Now the ball is in the state government’s court regarding running Kapatan Sugar Mill.
quota. The matter of running the Cooperative Sugar Mill located at Keshavraipatan Nagar in Bundi district of Rajasthan is once again being told in the court of the state government and it has to take the final decision.
To find out the possibilities of restarting this closed mill, the team of National Sugar Federation of India from New Delhi inspected the mill and met sugarcane expert YK Doli and technical expert K. Muralitharan (K. muralitharan) inspected the condition of the machinery of the mill plant to evaluate the physical condition of this mill, which has been closed for nearly 21 years, and discussed the possibilities of running the mill in detail with the farmer representatives. discussed. This committee will submit its detailed report to the state government about the possibilities of starting this mill in about two months, but according to sources, before returning back, the expert committee has already clarified to the farmers that the final decision about running it. The state government has to do it. The Center has no role in this.
Sources said that at the time of establishment of sugar mill at Keshavarayapatan in the year 1970, the technology with which the machinery was installed here could have been new as per 51 years ago, but today this period has been crossed. Apart from this, due to the closure of the mill for the last 21 years, due to non-operation of its machinery, almost all the machines have turned into a pile of junk. From mill house-sulfur house to boiler-turbine, all the equipments are no longer useful.
Sources said that in such a situation, if this mill is to be started again, then it will have to start from zero. By renovating the mill building anew, here with modern technical equipment capable of crushing more according to the need of today, auxiliary plant for making alcohol-ethanol, disposal of waste after crushing as well as its electricity needs. Power plants will have to be set up to meet the needs and sell the surplus power to the power companies. This whole process will be very expensive. The state government will take a decision about starting this mill in future keeping in mind the utility and interest of the farmers. Without any such preparation, the government will no longer want to tie a bell around its neck.
Sources said that before modernizing the mill’s plant to make it operational, the state government will again have to motivate the farmers to produce sugarcane on a large scale. For this, farmers will have to provide basic facilities because after the closure of this mill 21 years ago, the farmers have now reduced the production of sugarcane in the surrounding area. When the mill was closed in the year 2001, most of the sugarcane produced in this area in the year 2001 and after that in the year 2002 became fodder due to the closure of the sugar mill. Apart from this, it was this year when there was a severe famine in the whole of Rajasthan. After the closure of the mill, the farmers lost their interest in sugarcane production.
In this regard, Dashrath Kumar Sharma, General Secretary of the Hadoti Kisan Union, who was associated with the Kisan Coordination Sangharsh Samiti, says that the possibilities of sugarcane production in this area have not ended. The state government can motivate farmers for sugarcane production by assuring them of procurement at reasonable prices and providing basic facilities like electricity and canal water for irrigation. If the profit is received, then the farmer is ready for the cultivation of sugarcane. The mill has its own 170 bighas of land, where sugarcane has been cultivated. Apart from this, sugarcane can be produced by motivating the farmers of the villages of Bundi-Kota district around the mill. At least 700 villages will be benefitted by this but the biggest need is the will power of the state government. (talk)
