Sugarcane growers in Sivaganga complain of undue delay in weighing their produce at the sugar mill
The Hindu
Sugarcane growers complain about delays in weighing at Sakti Sugar Mills; officials promise to address the issue.
There is undue delay in weighing the sugarcane at the Sakti Sugar Mills, complained sugarcane growers at the monthly farmers’ grievances redress meeting held here on Friday.
Presiding over the meeting, Sivaganga District Collector Asha Ajith said that steps would be taken to prevent such delays in future. When a farmer Ayyasami claimed that on some occasion, the queue was so long that they had to wait with the produce for many days as a result of which there was excessive weight loss.
Intervening, the Agriculture department officials said that they had checked with the Mill authorities and that there was no such undue delay as claimed by the farmer. However, they told the farmers that alternative arrangements would be made so that the sugarcane laden trucks and tractors did not wait for long hours.
The Collector said that the officials would examine the modalities after discussing with the Mill authorities on weighing the sugarcane laden trucks in other nearby locations. The farmers would also be taken in during discussions, she added.
Blaming the PWD and Municipal authorities for their lackadaisical attitude, the farmers said that many waterbodies were encroached. The thorny bushes had become a suitable breeding ground for pigs, farmer Adhimoolam said. Only when the bushes and other encroachments were evicted, the waterbodies can become useful, he added.
The Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar linking project should be expedited and the zameen tanks too had to be desilted.
A farmer Chandran alleged that for many petitions, there was no response at all from the officials. When many farmers joined him, Ms Asha Ajith intervened and said that she would take a look into it.