Too vital, too little

Motihari, Nov. 21: There seems to be no relief from misery for the farmers of East Champaran.

With the advent of the rabi season, there has been a spurt in smuggling of fertilisers to Nepal from the bordering villages of East Champaran, a source said.

Police and security agencies have been unable to check the illegal flow of fertilisers. Smuggling out of fertilisers has led to a scarcity in the local markets, which in turn has led to hike in the price of fertilisers.

Most of the godowns of fertiliser in the district are located near the border and the dealers find it very easy to smuggle out fertilisers as they have the patronage of a number of politicians in lieu of good compensation, added the source.

He said that the central government recently issued a list of names of 117 dealers involved in smuggling fertilisers. This came close on the heels of the Criminal Investigation Department filing a report on fertiliser smuggling in East Champaran and West Champaran.

The Criminal Investigation Department report identified several bordering villages in the two districts as transit points for the smugglers.

A source said about half-a-dozen villages along the India-Nepal border have been identified, where most of the people are dependent on smuggling fertilisers for livelihood. About seven of the 27 blocks in East Chamaparan are close to the Nepal border.

The central government issued a recent directive asking the district magistrates of the bordering districts to come down hard on the smugglers.

A source said the list issued by the central government also includes names of fertiliser dealers who have procured licences to sell fertilisers in the locality but are actually smuggling goods to Nepal.

The district agriculture officer of East Champaran, Dharamveer Pandey, said his department had swung into action after they were given directions by the district magistrate, Narmadeshwar Lal.

Pandey told The Telegraph: “All sub-divisional magistrates and block development officers have been asked to conduct raids based on the list provided by the Centre.” He added: “Strict action would be taken against those found guilty of smuggling fertilisers to Nepal.” Pandey also said the raids have already started in various blocks.

He added FIRs have been lodged against two dealers under Raxaul block and three dealers under Madhubani block.