Hyderabad, July 9 (IANS) Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) in Telangana’s Peddapalli district has been shut down due to a leakage in its ammonia pipeline.

Urea production at the public sector company has come to a halt following the shutdown of all units in the plant due to the leakage.

According to sources, technical problems led to the leakage. As the problem could not be rectified, the plant was shut down. It may take at least one week to resume production after rectifying the problem.

With the urea production coming to a halt, the fertiliser supply to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and five other states is likely to be affected, raising concern over supply to farmers during the ongoing Kharif crop season.

This is the second time this year that an ammonia leak has forced the RFCL plant’s shutdown. The plant was closed for a week in March.

The plant has a capacity of 3,850 tonnes per day, but it had been operating at 50 per cent capacity for some time due to gas shortages due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

As RFCL is the only source for Telangana, the state government has been demanding that the Centre allocate the entire urea output from the plant to Telangana.

Meanwhile, the Telangana government has taken an innovative step to make subsidised urea more easily accessible to farmers across the state. To enhance transparency and ensure timely distribution, the state Agriculture Department has introduced urea booking services at all MeeSeva centres across the state.

Farmers who are unable to book urea through the fertiliser booking app can visit their nearest MeeSeva centre and book urea with the help of an operator. MeeSeva, functioning under the leadership of IT and Industries Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu, is launching this new initiative in collaboration with the Agriculture Department.

According to an official release, the farmer must visit the nearest MeeSeva centre with their Pattadar Passbook (PPB) number. The MeeSeva operator collects the farmer’s details and records information regarding the cultivated area and crops.

The required quantity of urea is booked with the fertiliser dealer selected by the farmer. A booking ID is issued immediately after verifying the OTP sent to the farmer’s registered mobile number.

The booking ID obtained through MeeSeva is valid for 48 hours, excluding the date of booking. Farmers must contact their chosen fertiliser dealer and purchase urea before the booking deadline expires.

The Agriculture Department advises that subsidised urea booking should be done only through the official fertiliser booking app or MeeSeva centres.

–IANS

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