Karimnagar: Contrary to repeated official claims that “there is no urea shortage”, farmers across the erstwhile Karimnagar district are anguished by the severe shortage of urea, with even the much-touted Ramagundam Fertilizer Factory (RFCL) failing miserably to deliver the goods.

More than a month into cultivation of their Kharif crops, at a crucial time, farmers are facing dire shortage of urea with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Despite standing in queues formed before dawn and spending hours at the godowns for getting their urea bags, they are not given more than one bag per acre. Some are not even getting even that rationed bag. The dismal situation is pervasive in Karimnagar district. The typical scene is the same in each of these village: Eagerly waiting farmers get to know that godowns have received several bags of the urea.

Racing against time, the farmers go early in the morning and queue up, regardless of the weather. Even after standing in queues all day, they are not getting even half the bags they require.

This makes mockery of the statements of officials that “there is no shortage of urea anywhere in the district”.

In many places, ration cards and slippers are placed in queues representing farmers awaiting supply of urea. In Shankarapatnam, Ganneruvaram, Chigurumamidi and other mandals of Karimnagar district, the intensity of the problem is high.

It is strange that at a crucial time when farmers have not been able to buy fertilizers in Karimnagar, Jagtial and Peddapalli districts, the authorities do not have any qualms repeating, “there is no shortage of fertilizers”.