Uttara Himghar yet to pay compensation
Potato growers of different upazila of Dinajpur district formed a human chain in front of the deputy commissioner's office here yesterday demanding compensation for their potatoes which got damaged due to alleged negligence of Uttara Himghar Ltd authorities in April this year.
The agitating farmers submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner and also threatened to go for tougher agitation if their demand was not met within the next 30 days.
Deputy Commissioner Md Jamal Uddin assured the potato growers of taking necessary steps to realise compensation from the cold storage authorities.
Later, the farmers held a press conference at Dinajpur Press Club where Md Nazrul Islam, president of Dinajpur Krishak Kalyan Samity, and Md Azizul Islam, secretary of the samity, alleged that though the cold storage authorities had earlier agreed to give compensation to the affected farmers within July 15, no compensation is yet to be paid.
They said at least 40,000 sacks of potatoes got damaged at Uttara Himghar at Boroil village under Dinajpur Sadar upazila due to negligence of the authorities. They further alleged that authorities stored at least 53,000 sacks of potatoes in the cold storage beyond its capacity.
After the incident in April, the potato growers of the district staged demonstrations and blocked Dinajpur-Dhaka highway several times demanding compensation for their damaged potatoes.
The district administration formed an investigation committee headed upazila agriculture officer. The committee in its report submitted to the deputy commissioner said the stored potatoes got rotten due to negligence of the Uttara Himghar Ltd authorities.
The committee also suggested that the cold storage authorities pay Tk 800 to 1100 for per bag of rotten potatoes to the affected farmers.
Later, Uttara Himghar authorities in a meeting with former Deputy Commissioner Md Shamsul Alam agreed that he would give compensation for the damaged potatoes by July 15.
Md Mir Ashfaq, managing director of Uttara Himghar Ltd, could not be contacted over cellphone for his comment.
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