Damage of Potato in Cold Storage
Dinajpur farmers block road demanding compensation
Farmers block Dinajpur-Dhaka highway at Gopalganj village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila yesterday demanding compensation for the damage of a large amount of potato that the growers had stored in Uttara Himghar Ltd, a cold storage at the village.Photo: STAR
Hundreds of potato growers yesterday blocked Dinajpur-Dhaka highway for five hours demanding compensation from the authorities of Uttara Himghar Ltd, a cold storage at Gopalganj village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila, for damage of thousands of bags of stored potato. The affected farmers said the authorities overloaded the cold storage but did not arrange alternative power supply as per previous assurance. Farmers from different places gathered in front of Uttara Himghar Ltd, a cold storage at Gopalganj village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila as the farmers heard that about 50,000 bags of potato rotted due to negligence of the cold storage authorities, witnesses said. At 10:30am, Mirza Ashfaque, executive director of Uttara Himghar Ltd, also joint secretary of Dinajpur district AL, went to the spot to pacify the agitating farmers. The farmers confined Mirza Ashfaque and chanted slogans demanding compensation for their losses. As Mirza Ashfaque declined to pay any compensation, the farmers burst into protest and blocked Dinajpur-Dhaka highway at 12:30pm. A large number of vehicles lay stranded as the blockade halted road communication between Dinajpur and other districts. The agitators withdrew their blockade at 5:30pm as the Dinajpur deputy commissioner formed a committee led by ADM Zakir Hossain to investigate the incident. Besides, a one-member committee led by Upazila Agriculture Extension Officer Md Abdus Salam will assess the losses of the farmers who kept their potatoes at the cold storage,a sources said.
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