Tiruttani cane farmers at loss due to Arakkonam traffic rules

RANIPET: The Tiruttani Cooperative Sugar Mill at Tiruvalangadu, 15 km from Arakkonam and farmers supplying cane to the mill have both are reportedly facing hardships due to the action of the Arakkonam traffic police, who prevent cane-laden lorries from passing through the town during the day.

As Arakkonam town has no bypass road, vehicles have to go through the town. “Police stop cane lorries from entering the town during the day citing traffic bottlenecks,” said Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam youth wing state president R Subash.

Elaborating, he said, “traffic police claim the load in cane vehicles are not properly stacked which might pose threat to the public and don’t allow them to ply. The cane come from fields in Avagam, Asamandur and Paranji villages, into the town. However, the same condition does not apply to container and cement mill lorries, which carry cement dust and pass through the town during the day.”

“Apart from this, the lack of labour is also a serious problem and farmers are forced to seek cane harvesters which cuts around 100 tonnes per day. Hit by these problems, farmers are able to harvest only around 50 tonnes a day,” S Udayakumar, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam state general secretary added.

These issues have taken a toll on the mill’s functioning too. With cane loads reaching only at night, the mill has been forced to slow down the crushing activity during the day. An aggrieved farmer refusing to reveal his identity said, “due to use of harvesters we have stopped using lorries/trailers where cane would be loaded in the Y shape. We now use container type covered lorries (as seen in the pix) which thus do not pose any hazard which traffic police fail to realise.”

Farmer Ramamurthy was blunt when he said, “while cement and container companies can afford to grease palms, farmers cannot and that is why we are at the receiving end in this issue.”

They have to wait and see whether mill officials take up the issue with top police officials to end this impasse.