KCR dials SCR, AP for quick supply

Hyderabad: With the shortage of urea in the state being highlighted by the opposition and sparking a major controversy, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao sprang into action on Friday and instructed the officials concerned to make arra-ngements for the supply of adequate stocks of urea for farmers.

He said that within the next three or four days the urea required by farmers must be available and must be directly supplied to the villages.

In a high level meeting with officials on Friday at Pragathi Bhavan, Mr Rao reviewed the urea shortage problem.

Already 1.15 tonne urea from IDL, Iffco, Kribhco and NFL has reached the ports of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Gangav-aram, Krishnapatnam and New Mangalore. From these ports, it will be transported by rail to the various districts.

Mr Rao spoke to the South Central Railway Chief Operations Manager Sivaprasad, and Chief Fleet Manager Nagya over the telephone and requested them to arrange for 25 special goods trains to transport the urea stock from the ports to various districts in the state.

The railway officials have agreed to the request and assured Mr Rao that goods trains will be organised on Friday itself.

The urea will be transported by rail to Jagityal, Manchiryal, Adilabad, Ped-dapalli, Warangal, Mahab-ubabad, Karimnagar, Sana-thnagar, Khammam, Kotha-gudem and other districts.

Mr Rao has instructed that one agriculture officer should be deputed at each port to ensure that the urea is loaded quickly onto the goods trains.

The Chief Minister instructed transport minister Vemula Prashant Reddy and principal secretary Sunil Sharma to see that trucks are also ready to transport the urea.

Some 3,000 trucks will transport the urea, apart from the goods trains.

The Chief Minister also wanted trucks from Andhra Pradesh to be drafted to go to the ports, and spoke to Andhra Pradesh transport minister Perni Nani and requested him to lift large quantities of urea through trucks from Gangavaram port.

Mr Nani assured him that he would send as many trucks as possible.