Tardy lifting of wheat has Ambala mandi jam-packed

Farmers have been facing problem unloading their produce, as there is no space left in the mandi, resulting in extended queues and longer wait outside the counters to get the gate passes in the scorching heat

Even as procurement was stopped for a day to prioritise lifting of produce, the Ambala City grain market remained jam-packed with trailers and heaps of wheat on Wednesday.

According to the administration, more than 1.17 metric tonnes of wheat was procured by the agencies till Tuesday. (HT Photo)

Farmers have been facing problem unloading their produce, as there is no space left in the mandi, resulting in extended queues and longer wait outside the counters to get the gate passes in the scorching heat.

An elderly farmer from Garnala, who didn’t wish to be named, said that he arrived at the mandi with 40 metric tonnes of wheat crop at 9am, but had to wait for the gate pass till 3pm.

Manveer, a farmer from Lol Sanli village, too had to wait for the pass for more than three hours.

“My brother waited with me for hours, but then he left for some urgent work, and I had to stand in the queue to get the pass. There was no purchase on Tuesday, so there is more inflow today,” he said.

Mandi board secretary Asha Rani didn’t respond to the calls made to her.

Meanwhile, Duni Chand arhtiyas association president said tardy lifting was witnessed at the mandi despite a one-day procurement halt.

“Only a couple of trucks have transported the sacks to the agencies since Tuesday,” Chand claimed.

However, deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Sharma said that more than 1.17 MT of wheat had been procured by the agencies till Tuesday. He was unavailable for a comment on the slow lifting issue.