HYDERABAD, Sept 28: In spite of Sindh government’s notification directing sugar mills of the province to start cane crushing from October 1, not a single mill is ready to start it, saysing there is ni cane to crush.
Sugar mills have to light up boilers at least 10 days before starting but this has not been done in any mill yet.
Under usual circumstances, mills started crushing in November during the last two seasons.
At present, rainwater is still standing in fields and cane growers are not ready and have not harvested the crop.
According to Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani it will take more than one month for water to dry up in Sanghar district.
He said that the notification to start the crushing season from October 1 was simply impracticable not only for sugar mills but also for cane growers.
Even otherwise, during Ramazan it would be impossible for growers to harvest the crop.
Under the relevant law, the Sindh government is authorised to extend the crushing season as it has been doing over the years and under the present extraordinary circumstances, the government is left with no option but to extend the date.
A senior officer of the department concerned said that although it was impracticable for sugar mills to start cane crushing from October 1, yet they could be prosecuted for violating the notification.
