Gandhinagar: In a bid to curb malpractice and ensure adequate availability of chemical fertilizers ahead of the Kharif season, the state agriculture department carried out surprise inspections at fertilizer dealerships across the state on Saturday. During this crackdown covering 16 districts, licences of 24 dealers were canceled, an official release said on Sunday.

Thirty-two inspection teams were involved in the drive, checking the physical stock of fertilizers, verifying Point-of-Sale (POS) machine data, and auditing records of authorized chemical fertilizer dealers. A total of 57 dealers were inspected, with show-cause notices issued to several of them for various violations.

Licences of 24 dealers were suspended due to irregularities in stock records, and approximately 1,090.64 metric tonnes of fertilizers, valued at ₹1.78 crore, were seized to prevent unauthorized sale. The department also cross-verified the sale records with 101 farmers.

In the first round of checks, irregularities were found at 17 sites, leading to the seizure of 718.47 metric tonnes of fertilizer worth ₹1.14 crore and suspension of 17 licences. The second round covered 31 dealers, with 372.17 metric tonnes worth ₹63.65 lakh seized and seven more licences suspended. DeshGujarat