500 rice mills in Pabna lying idle for a week

Paddy rotting as sunlight missing due to dense fog

27 January 2009, 18:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Pabna

Rice production in over 500 rice mills of the district has come to a halt due to continued dense fog and bad weather prevailing in the area for last one week, mill sources said. About 15,000 maunds of paddy are being rotten in the mills rendering over 3,000 rice mill labourers, a large number of whom are women, jobless, they said. At least 300 maunds of paddy can be processed in each rice mill in one round thereby producing 100 maunds of rice. Over 10,000 maunds of rice can be produced every week in the district in the peak season. But production in mills has been stopped following inclement weather, said Pabna district unit president of Rice Mill Owners Association Md Idris Ali Biswas. It requires at least three to four days of sunlight for producing rice in winter season. But sunlight is not available for last one week due to dense fog, he said. When contacted, Jamal,45, a rice mill labourer of Dapunia village in Pabna Sadar upazila said, “We work in rice mills on contract basis and get Tk 3,500 by producing rice from 400 maunds of paddy." "If weather remains favourable then it is easier to produce rice within three or four days", he said adding, on completion of one round of production, about seven or eight labourers get Tk 3,500 to 4,000. "As we have no work, we are suffering much in such a situation,” he said. Meanwhile, prices of rice have shot up in retail outlets in the district, market sources said. Prices of each bag of rice increased here from Tk 50 to 100 during last one week. When contacted, district food officer said that dense fog has disrupted production of rice but "the situation is under control". On contact, district controller of food Md Jahangir Alam said they are monitoring prices of rice which is "stable."