LARKANA:President, Larkana Chamber of Agriculture (LCA), Sirajul Oliya Rashidi, has said that urea shortage has been created willfully by the dealers but district administration has taken no action against the hoarders and profiteers which is astonishing. He said Assistant Commissioner, Ahmed Ali Soomro, had warned the dealers that if Larkana quota is sold outside Larkana then FIR will be registered against all those who were found but nothing has yet been done.
He said that due to shortage of urea it is feared that wheat crop will be very badly affected. He said Engro urea company has said that eight lac ton urea is available in the country and if that is true then who is involved in hoarding and black marketing and why it is not brought out for open sale. He said the Sindh Government should ensure open sale of urea in the market on government fixed rates or else he feared that growers will face huge financial losses for which the rulers will be responsible.
Meanwhile, AC Ahmed Ali Soomro, has claimed on Monday while talking to newsmen that dealers appointed by the fertilizer companies do not belong to Larkana as per their licenses hence, he added, they procure urea and sell it elsewhere due to which shortage is occurred in the respective districts. He said urea shortage is also in Punjab. He said during investigation it was revealed that stock meant for Larkana was already consumed but actually the dealers sold the same stock elsewhere on higher profit which is very unfortunate.
He said it is now the responsibility of the fertilizer companies to ensure before appointing a dealer that the dealer actually belongs to Larkana and their fertilizer will be sold in Larkana exclusively nowhere else or else he should be taken to task. He disclosed that 125,000 urea bags of Larkana have been sold out of Larkana by the dealers. He said recently 1000 bags were captured on Otha Chowk which were sold to the growers on government rates in presence of agriculture department officials.
AC Soomro said that they are still trying to resolve the issue in consultation with the representatives of the Sindh Abadgar Board, LCA, agriculture department officials, dealers and farmers. Soomro further said that in reply to a question that traffic jam issue is one of the core issues faced by the residents of Larkana adding they have carried out anti-encroachment drives several times before in the city and removed occupation of government land but after they return same shopkeepers and traders again encroach upon the land which is highly condemnable which create traffic issues.
He said shopkeepers, traders and businessmen will have to cooperate in order to ensure smooth flow of traffic or else drastic actions will henceforth be taken against them. Meanwhile, hundreds of growers, poor farmers and tillers held protest demonstrations at Jalus Bazaar Road demanding urea for their wheat and other crops.