Farmers in Telangana face daily ordeal over urea shortage

Farmers in Telangana are enduring long waits and staging protests outside PACS offices due to a continuing shortage of urea. In districts like Kothagudem and Mahabubabad, farmers are struggling to secure the fertiliser, with some having waited over 20 days since sowing. Protests and dharnas have been staged as both the State and Central governments are blamed for the issue.

Khammam/Mahabubabad: Waiting outside PACS offices for long hours and staging protests for urea has now become a daily ordeal for farmers in the State amid continued short supply of the fertiliser.

At Ganugapadu in Chandrugonda mandal of Kothagudem district, large numbers of men and women queued up in front of the PACS office on Saturday, some marking their places by leaving chappals in line. A woman with a baby was forced to wait from 7 am for urea.

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Farmers staged a protest demanding officials ensure adequate supply. They complained that even procuring a single bag of urea to feed crops had become a major challenge.

In Narsimhulapet mandal headquarters of Mahabubabad district, hundreds of farmers said they had not received urea even 20 days after sowing, warning it would severely affect crop growth.

Angered by the prolonged delay, they staged a dharna on the main road at the local PACS office. Farmers said they had been making rounds of the office for five days, yet officials neither supplied urea nor gave clarity on when it would arrive.

They accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and local MLA Ramachandru Nayak of neglecting farmers’ issues. Local Sub-Inspector Suresh later reached the spot and pacified the protesters. Officials then began collecting copies of farmers’ patta passbooks and Aadhaar cards.

Telangana Rythu Sangam state president Pothineni Sudarshan accused the Central government of discriminating against Telangana in the timely supply of urea. He said the issue was being sidelined as the Centre and State continued to blame each other.

“The union Ministers from Telangana should take responsibility and ensure timely supply of urea. Immediate steps must be taken to prevent shortages and provide fertiliser to farmers without delay,” he said.