PATNA: In trouble for the Bihar government, a farmer from Saran district died while he was standing outside a licensed fertiliser dealer’s shop for his turn to procure fertiliser for wheat crop sown in over three acres of land. Incidentally, the shortage of fertiliser, especially urea, has led to protests in different parts of the state in last 15 days.
The deceased, Ram Babu Singh, 50, a resident of Andharbari village under Taraiya block in Saran district, fainted at around 8 am on Saturday while standing for more than four hours at Taraiya Bazar. He was rushed to Taraiya referral hospital from where he was referred to the Sadar hospital at Chhapra. However, he died on way to Chhapra.
Sources said that there were 11 fertiliser dealers under Taraiya block in Saran. The farmer’s son, Raj Kumar, said his father was in the queue since 4 am. “He has been running from pillar to post for fertiliser for the last 15 days but in vain. On Saturday, he left for the dealer’s shop in the hope to get a packet of Urea.”
Abhishek Ranjan, an official posted at the Saran district agriculture office, said that a report about the death of Ram Babu Singh was sent to his department. “I can not share more information on the issue,” he told this newspaper over phone on Sunday.
Kumar alleged that a packet of Urea was sold for Rs 600 in black market, forcing most of the farmers to stand in queue for hours to get the fertiliser.