Potato growers burst into protest
Compensation from cold storage owners demanded in Dinajpur, Rangpur
A large amount of potato rots at Moulana Bashir Uddin Cold Storage at Hazirhat in Rangpur Sadar upazila, right, potato growers block Dinajpur-Dhaka highway at Gopalganj village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila demanding compensation for damage of their potato kept at Uttara Himghar Ltd, a cold storage in the village.Photo: STAR
Hundreds of farmers blocked roads in Dinajpur and Rangpur yesterday demanding compensation as thousands of bags of potatoes they kept in cold storage have rotten due to alleged negligence of the authorities. Our Dinajpur correspondent reported that potato growers blocked Dinajpur-Dhaka highway at around 5:45pm demanding compensation for damage of their potatoes at Uttara Himghar Limited, a cold storage, at Gopalganj village under Dinajpur Sadar upazila, and also protesting attack on them allegedly by the hired goons of the cold storage authorities on Monday. The agitating growers also damaged two passenger buses on the road did not withdraw the blockade as of filing of this report at 6:30pm. On Monday, they came under attack while agitating in front of the cold storage demanding compensation for damage of what they said about 5,000 bags of stored potato due to failure of the authorities to arrange alternative power supply during outage as per previous assurance. The affected farmers said the authorities overloaded the cold storage but did not arrange alternative source of power during load shedding. At least 10 potato growers were injured in Monday's attack allegedly by the hired goons of Uttara Himghar Limited authorities in front of the cold storage. Three of the injured--Abdul Haque, Tariqul Islam and Mominul Islam were admitted to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital in critical condition while the rest given first aid. Soon after the incident, the farmers put up barricades on Dinajur-Dhaka highway protesting the attack. Road links between Dinajpur and other districts remained cut off for several hours from 12:30pm due to the blockade. On Saturday, the farmers burst into protest and blocked Dinajpur-Dhaka highway after Executive Director of Uttara Himghar Ltd Mirza Ashfaque, also the joint secretary of Dinajpur district Awami League, declined to give them compensation for their losses. The agitators withdrew the blockade after Dinajpur deputy commissioner formed an investigation committee headed by ADM Zakir Hossain. 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, sources said. According to our Rangpur correspondent, hundreds of potato growers and hoarders yesterday blocked Rangpur-Dinajpur highway for two hours from 11:00am demanding compensation from the owner of a cold storage where stored potatoes have rotten due to lack of power supply. The growers and hoarders held Maulana Bashir Uddin, managing director of Maulana Bashir Uddin Cold Storage Ltd, at Hazirhat under Sadar upazila responsible for damage of their potatoes as he did not arrange alternative power supply during load shedding. The agitating growers and hoarders withdrew the road blockade at around 12:45pm after upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) assured them of taking steps so that they can get compensation from the cold storage owner. In the afternoon, the affected farmers lodged a case with Rangpur kotwali Police Station against Bashir Uddin and director of the cold storage Abul Bashar, putting blame on them for their (farmers) losses. Contacted, Abul Bashar said they could not ensure uninterrupted power supply to the cold storage as its generator has remained inactive for several weeks. Sources said the cold storage has storage capacity of about 40,000 bags of potatoes, but the proprietor stored about 60,000 bags of potatoes this year.
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