Punjab: Thousands of weighed wheat sacks lying in the open in one of the biggest grain markets of the region have been submerged in water following incessant rains last night, causing huge damage to the wheat sold. Farmers are expressing concern over the damage to their produce due to heavy rains. The situation is even worse in rural mandis as wheat sacks are lying on brick floors. Malkit Singh of Mahatma Nagar, a border village, said that due to the brick floor, termites have started infesting the wet sacks, causing financial losses to farmers and arhtiyas. It is worth mentioning that due to non-lifting of wheat, the produce has been kept on the roads and due to lack of space, some sacks have been kept on lower roads as well.
Sanjeev Sachdeva Goldy, President of Arhtiya Association Fazilka, said that about 9 lakh sacks (each sack weighing 50 kg) are lying in Fazilka grain market waiting to be lifted. He said that due to delay in lifting, the commission agents are forced to keep the bags of wheat sold in the open. District Food and Supplies Controller of Fazilka, Vandana Kamboj said that they will soon make arrangements to separate the wet bags. However, she blamed the Mandi Board officials and said that no proper arrangement has been made for disposal of water, due to which rainwater has accumulated. It was said that the concerned contractor did not provide the desired number of trucks, due to which the wheat to be sold in the Mandi was filled.
Loss in Muktsar too
Due to rain in Muktsar, wheat stock lying in the open in various mandis across the district has been damaged, claiming heavy losses to farmers, commission agents and labourers. She said that the quality of the grain soaked in rain will deteriorate and it may take up to 10 days to dry properly. The situation has worsened due to the slow pace of lifting from grain mandis. For the past several days, both farmers and labourers were expressing concern over the delay in the transportation of wheat. However, Muktsar District Food and Civil Supplies Controller Sukhwinder Singh was constantly claiming that the lifting of wheat was gaining momentum day by day.
