LAYYAH, Sept 16: Farmers staged a demonstration to protest the unavailability of urea fertiliser here on Tuesday. They blocked the Choubara Road and threw traffic out of gear by setting tyres ablaze for around three hours.

The urea fertiliser has been in short supply for the past two months, and dealers are selling it in black for Rs900 to Rs1,000 per bag. However, some lucky peasants having government permits get urea at Rs675 per bag, but only after remaining queued up for hours.

On Monday, DCO Javed Iqbal fixed the price of urea at Rs635 per bag on which dealers closed down their businesses in protest.

The peasants who came to the city from nearby villages to buy fertiliser on Tuesday got frustrated after finding all shops closed and held a protest demonstration on Choubara Road. Some of the protesters also tried to set Jafaria Fertilisers store on fire.

The police commanded by Sadar DSP Malik Liaquat rushed to the scene and baton-charged the protesters.

They also arrested three protesters but released them after a few hours. The police also cleared the road.

Farmers, including Haji Muhammad Ismaeel, Muhammad Bakhsh, Abdul Ghafoor, Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ameen and Karam Husain, told Dawn that their crops and vegetables direly needed urea fertiliser.

They urged the government to take steps to ensure sufficient supply of the urea to the market and protect economic interests of millions of peasants.

Meanwhile, the local administration in the evening sealed all the stores and shops of fertilizer dealers.