Farmers in Godagari, Rajshahi, blocked a highway on Monday (9 November) fearing that there was not enough fertiliser for all of them. More than 400 farmers occupied the Rajshahi-Chapainawabganj highway at Hatnabad from 4 pm to 4:30 pm, causing long tailbacks on both sides.
Local sources say two dealers have warehouses at Hatnabad: Messrs Manik Traders, a BCIC fertiliser dealer, and Messrs Mosharraf Hossain, a BADC dealer. Manik Traders sold its stock of 150 sacks of DAP fertiliser between morning and midday. Another 150 sacks were due to be sold from Mosharraf Hossain's warehouse in the afternoon, but fearing that not everyone would get some, the farmers took to the road.
Upazila nirbahi officer Israt Jahan, upazila agriculture officer Mariam Ahmed and Godagari police station officer-in-charge Sujan Mia went to the spot. The farmers lifted the blockade after being assured that their complaints would be investigated and fertiliser supplied according to demand.
UNO Israt Jahan said the half-hour blockade caused a traffic jam. The administration has a list of farmers who have started cultivation, she said, and everyone on it will get fertiliser.
Dealer Habibur Rahman said there is no fertiliser shortage in the area. He alleged that Mahfuzur Rahman Dalim, a member of the district Jubo Dal convening committee who applied for a new dealership and did not get one, had put the farmers up to the blockade. Dalim denied it, saying he was abused and jostled while trying to calm the farmers, and that four to five hundred farmers took part in a heated protest.
The report is by Ajker Patrika's staff correspondent in Rajshahi.
Source: Ajker Patrika
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