Farmers block Ujjain-Nagda road over wheat procurement disruption

Angry farmers blocked Ujjain-Nagda road on Wednesday afternoon after shortage of gunny sacks and closure of three out of five weighing scales brought wheat procurement to a near halt at Depan procurement centre run by Borkheda Bhalla Society in Sodang, Ujjain.The protest, which lasted nearly an hour, saw farmers from Sodang, Chakrawada, Ramgarh and surrounding villages park their tractor-trolleys in the middle of the road, raising slogans and demanding that senior officials visit the site.Police arrived and attempted to pacify the crowd, but farmers refused to budge until an officer reached in person. Farmers alleged that sacks ran out three days prior and that the society had made no arrangements to replenish them. With only two of five weighing scales operational, they were being made to wait in long queues for up to two days in the scorching heat, and many trolleys were being turned away without procurement. "We informed the authorities well in advance, but even after 12 hours, nothing was done," said farmers at the site.Ghatiya SDM Rajaram Karjare, who reached the spot, confirmed that the shortage of sacks — many of them torn — was a problem since Tuesday, which made the centre to run only two scales. Following talks with farmers, he got five weighing scales operational and arranged for a truck of sacks to be delivered. "One bale contains 500 sacks. There is now sufficient stock for the next three to four days. The farmers' problem has been resolved and the blockade lasted only a short while," Karjare said.The blockade disrupted traffic on the Ujjain-Nagda and Ujjain-Indore route.