While the conversation was going on, local youth Shaheen Mia, 35, reached the threshing yard with a machine. Ali Akbar and his son got busy with work. When asked about the diesel required to run the machine, Shaheen said that two liters of diesel is required per hour.
On Thursday morning, Shaheen had to wait for about an hour at a fuel station in the city and show his agriculture card to get 15 liters of diesel. He also had to give a tip of Rs 50 to a staff member. He said it is difficult to run the machine continuously due to shortage of diesel, and fuel is not easily available. As a result, running the machine in this season is not very profitable.
During the conversation, two other farmers, 60-year-old Abdul Musabbir and 38-year-old Noor Ahmed, were standing nearby. Musabbir said, “There is war going on in some other countries, but we are the ones suffering. There is no electricity, no diesel. What can we do? Whatever we buy is expensive. The days to come are likely to be worse.”