Basta: Irregularities in paddy procurement have led to discontent among farmers in Basta and Baliapal areas of Balasore district.
Taking up the issue, hundreds of farmers along with local BJP leaders blocked the NH-60 Saturday. The BJP had earlier warned of agitation over the issue.
Farmers and the saffron party leaders alleged that people are facing a lot of problems as they are unable to sell their paddy even three months after harvesting.
On the other hand, the state government has been doing publicity that the farmers can sell their paddy to cooperative societies as much as they can. However, 70 per cent of farmers in Basta and Baliapal blocks have not sold their paddy as yet.
During the blockade, traffic on the NH-60 was disrupted with hundreds of trucks and others vehicles stranded on either side of the road.
Following a directive from the Collector, DSO Rabinarayan Prusty and IIC Dhaneswar Sahu rushed to the spot and held talks with the agitators.
The protesters relented after the DSO assured that immediate steps will be taken for paddy procurement.
PNN