20190506 After Dhanaura sugar mill fire, farmers worried about crushing of standing cane crop
India May 06 2019 “Other”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
After Dhanaura sugar mill fire, farmers worried about crushing of standing cane crop
Updated: 2019–05–06
BIJNOR: Farmers are in a fix about their yet to be crushed sugarcane as the Chaddha Group’s Dhanaura sugar mill in Amroha was closed a day after a massive fire broke out there. The fire destroyed lakhs of quintals of bagasse stored in the premises.
Mill officials indicated that plans are afoot to resume crushing of cane but if problems continue, then the remaining cane will be crushed at the group’s Bijnor mill.
According to officials, sugar mill’s bagasse caught fire around 3:30 pm on Saturday. Soon, the fire spread across the yard where the bagasse was stored, gutting lakhs of quintals of bagasse.
With the sugarcane crushing season drawing to a close within the next couple of days, around five to six lakh quintals of sugarcane crop are yet to be harvested and is standing in the fields. The uncertainty over the fate of their standing crops is causing major concern among farmers in the area.
According to administrative officer of Chaddha Group’s Bijnor mill AK Singh, “The fire engulfed the entire bagasse yard. It took hours for fire tenders to douse it. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained but it has resulted in huge losses.
“TheDhanaura mill has been shut down. Some fve to six lakh quintals of cane crop is still standing in the area under the mill’s jurisdiction. Mill is likely to re-operate. So far, around 55 trucks laden with sugarcane from Dhanaura mill have reached here. If Dhanaura mill fails to crush the remaining crop, it will be shifted to the other mills of the same group.”
Surendra Bhati, a farmer of Dhanaura, said, “The mill was shut down on Saturday after the fire broke out. Farmers are now in fix to sell their crop. About 5% of standing crops is yet to be harvested in the area. If mill does not resume operations, farmers will have to sell their crop at low prices to crushers or kolluhs.”
Web Source: The Nation