india

Updated: Sep 05, 2019 23:07 IST

A 65-year-old farmer died on Thursday while waiting in a queue for his turn to buy urea in Telangana’s Siddipet, the home district of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his family members said.

Opposition parties blamed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the state for the severe shortage of the fertiliser in the state and said it was an avoidable crisis.

Chervapuram Yellaiah of Atchumayapalli village in Dubbaka block collapsed while standing in a serpentine queue in front of the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS). Yellaiah, the father of four daughters, owned two acres and had taken another two acres on lease to grow cotton.

“My husband, who could not get the chance to get the fertiliser despite standing in the queue the whole day on Wednesday, joined the queue again for the second consecutive day. There was a mad rush at the PACS counter. Unable to bear the stress, he collapsed there,” his wife Lakshmi told the reporters.

Fellow farmers and the police from Dubbak police station rushed him to the local government hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

As the news of his death spread, his relatives and villagers staged a demonstration in the village demanding action against those responsible for the shortage of urea in the market.

What angered the farmers was state agriculture minister S Nirajan Reddy’s comment that Yellaiah’s was a natural death and had nothing to do with the short supply of urea. “It is a coincidence that he died in the queue,” he said.

Nirajan Reddy said the shortage in urea was due to diversion of stocks to Karnataka to meet the urgent requirement. He said the state government had requested the Centre last month to release the entire allotted quota of 8.5 lakh tonnes but only 3.97 lakh tonnes were released. Of this, only 2.12 lakh tonnes of urea has reached the farmers.

Agriculture commissioner Rahul Bojja denied there was any shortage of urea but said there was a delay in the import of the fertiliser. “The stocks did not arise on time due to weather conditions. There was a shortage in August but now, the stocks are arriving and there is no need for panic,” he said.

Department officials said Telangana requires 8.50 lakh tonnes of urea every crop season. They said the state has so far got 4 lakh tonne, which is around 45% of its requirement. Another one lakh tonne of the fertiliser has arrived but is yet to reach the districts. Farmers have been staging protests across the state for their due share.

Since monsoon was delayed this year, the sowing season began late. Farmers this year took to paddy cultivation on 26 lakh acres of land as against the normal 24 lakh acres. The sowing lasted till August end. Cotton was taken up in 46 lakh acres and pulses and other crops in the remaining area.

“Because of the delay, there is a heavy demand for urea from farmers at a time. Urea is essential for spraying by September first week, when the fields are wet. After a week, urea will not seep into the ground,” All India Kisan Sangh vice-president Sarampally Malla Reddy.

The Bharatiya Janata’s Party (BJP’s) spokesperson K Krishna Sagar Rao said the lack of planning on the state government’s part led to the crisis.

“The central government had allocated 8.5 lakh metric tonnes of urea though there was a requirement of only 6.5 lakh metric tonnes. But due to improper planning, the TRS government has become responsible for the death of a farmer,” Rao said.

“Lakhs of farmers across the state are facing serious trouble in procuring urea. They are standing painfully in long queues for hours,” he added.

President of Congress’ Telangana unit N Uttam Kumar Reddy found fault with the agriculture minister for brushing aside the farmer’s death as natural.

“The TRS government miserably failed to address the issue of fertiliser shortage in the state,” he added.