Space shortage in Karnal, Kaithal grain markets too

Parveen Arora

Karnal, April 22

The slow pace of lifting procured wheat has resulted in a space crunch in different grain markets of Karnal and Kaithal districts. So far, nearly 52 per cent and 56 per cent of the wheat procured by the government agencies are lying in various grain markets of Karnal and Kaithal districts, respectively.

As per the data, three government agencies have procured a total of 5,68,725 MT of wheat. However, only 2,73,820 MT has been lifted from the grain markets so far while the remaining 294,905 MT is lying in the grain markets.

The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has lifted 1,08,462 MT of wheat out of total 2,32,083 MT procured till April 21, while Hafed has lifted 1,43,217 MT out of 2,90,967 MT procured wheat, and the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation has procured 45,675 MT of wheat, of which it has lifted 23,534 MT of wheat from different grain markets in Karnal district.

Similarly, Kaithal district has recorded an arrival of 5,27,366 MT of wheat, of which different procurement agencies have procured 4,94,817 MT and so far 2,17,722 MT has been lifted. Rajnish Chaudhary, president, Karnal district Anaj Mandi Arhtiyas Association, said farmers were approaching the arhtiyas over poor lifting, due to which they are not getting space. “We have already raised the issue with the authorities to speed up the lifting process,” he added.

Bahadur Singh Mehla, spokesperson, BKU (Sir Chhotu Ram), said: “The authorities should speed up the process.” Anil Kalra, District Food Supply Controller, Karnal, said they had expedited the process.

Kaithal: Senior IAS officer and District Administrative Secretary Vikas Gupta, accompanied by DC Prashant Panwar, visited the Kalayat and Guhla grain markets and silos on Monday. He stressed the swift lifting of wheat to prevent congestion in the mandis. He also interacted with arhtiyas and farmers.