The small tea growers of Upper Assam are staring at a huge loss because of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in the state.

The small tea growers were hoping to pluck the green leaves till Thursday, the deadline set by the Tea Board India.

The board had set December 14 as the deadline for plucking but on the request of the All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association, it was extended to December 19.

The production of green leaves drops to one-fourth in December, yet the growers in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat were producing a good amount of leaves this month.

But in the past week, that is the last part of this season, they could not pluck or sell the leaves to the factories because of the ongoing turmoil in the state.

As a result, about Rs 12 crore was the estimated loss in Tinsukia district alone.

According to a source, about 40 crore kg of green leaves are produced in the peak season of the year. But, in December, it was about 1 crore kg in the district.At present, the rate of leaves per kg is Rs 12 so about Rs 12 crore were lost by the growers in the last week.

Similarly, about 1 lakh kg leaves were lost in as many as 26 tea factories in Golaghat district.

The growers lost about Rs 12 lakh in the district.

The office bearer of All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association, Gopal Krishna Khound, said, “Though this month is not a favourite for the tea growers, we were producing one-fourth of the regular production of tea leaves in the peak months.”

“The turmoil in the past week resulted in great loss to the growers,” he added.

“We demand the government to compensate our loss,” a small tea grower in Golaghat district said.