Farmers clash repeatedly over queue for fertiliser in Natore's Naldanga, several injured

Farmers clashed repeatedly in Naldanga upazila of Natore over their place in a queue to collect fertiliser. The incident took place on Thursday morning (5 November) at the shop of BCIC fertiliser dealer Shyam Sundar Agarwal in the upazila's municipal area, and several farmers were injured.

Police and eyewitness sources said hundreds of farmers had queued in front of the dealer's shop from Thursday morning to collect fertiliser. A first round of clashes and scuffles broke out over who was standing ahead or behind in the line, injuring several people.

Local people initially calmed the situation, but at around 11:30am the farmers clashed again over the same issue. Several more people were injured in the second round, and the injured received first aid, according to the report.

On receiving the news, Naldanga police reached the spot and brought the situation under control. Officials of the agriculture department also went to the scene and helped control the situation alongside the police.

A day earlier, on Wednesday (4 November), tension had also arisen among farmers over fertiliser distribution in the upazila's Madhnagar area. Police went there that day and normalised the situation.

BCIC dealer Shyam Sundar Agarwal said fertiliser was being distributed in an orderly way from 9am in the presence of the upazila agriculture officer, with farmers standing in line. He said disorder broke out suddenly when some unruly people created a commotion.

Agarwal added that agriculture officials and law enforcement members later brought the situation under control. He said there was no reason for a fertiliser crisis and that sufficient fertiliser was in stock.

Upazila agriculturist Sabuj Ali said the upazila had sufficient fertiliser allocation and dealers were regularly lifting and distributing fertiliser. He said the disorder at the municipal-area dealer point stemmed from misunderstanding and ill feeling over standing in line.

Sabuj Ali said an assistant agriculture officer was present at the time, and upazila agriculture officials later went to the spot and reassured the farmers. He said there was currently no shortage of fertiliser.

The agriculture officer added that cultivation would not begin for another 15 to 20 days, but many farmers wanted to collect fertiliser in advance and store it at home. He said dealers had been instructed in a meeting to distribute fertiliser in an orderly and disciplined way, and the agriculture department was taking necessary measures to avoid such situations in future.