The 7,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer brought by the government for the farmers has been dumped at the Birgunj customs for a year now.
Last year, farmers were in dire straits as they could not apply chemical fertilizers on time.
However, the fertilizer imported by the government from abroad has been dumped in the empty part of the dry port of Birgunj due to a lack of customs clearance.
The chemical fertilizer procured by the government had been staying at the Kolkata port of India for a long time. He had come to Nepal after getting wet due to ‘Amphon’ storm in the Bay of Bengal at Kolkata port.
Damaged was brought to Nepal from Kolkata. As it was not allowed to be released at Kolkata customs, it has been brought to Birgunj port and left unattended.
According to the customs office, the damaged goods were kept in the empty space outside as there was a problem in keeping them. Due to the wet fertilizer occupying only the warehouse and not being able to manage it, the fertilizer has been dumped in the vacant land of the port.
The discarded fertilizer was procured by Salt Trading Corporation Limited last year through a global tender.
In the fiscal year 2076/77, Salt Trading had entered into an agreement with the supplier Swiss Singapore Overseas for 25,000 metric tons of fertilizer.
The fertilizer procured by the government has been dumped in the port without any use. However, the farmers have not been able to apply chemical fertilizers even now.
