Assam: 5000-MT cold storage lying idle for 3 years at Kharupetia

Our Correspondent

MANGALDAI: A 5000-MT cold storage facility lying idle for three long years after its formal inauguration has made circles concerned raise their eyebrows. The matter assumes more significance as it has happened at Kharupetia, known as the vegetable mandi of Assam and some of its neighbouring states.

The loss that the local farmers have to suffer for the cold storage facility lying idle since its inauguration is immeasurable.

Considering the long-felt demand for a cold storage facility for the benefits of the agricultural farmers of the area, the Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board (ASAMB) came out with the dream project for the construction of the state-of-the-art 5000-MT capacity cold storage at Kharupetia under the Mangaldai Legislative Assembly Constituency. On February 20, 2021, the then Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar formally dedicated it to the agricultural farmers through video conferencing while the then Mangaldai MLA Guru Jyoti Das ceremonially inaugurated the cold storage locally by cutting the ribbon in the presence of the then Deputy Commissioner Dilip Kumar Bora, Chief Executive Officer of Assam Agricultural Marketing Board Bidyut Bikash Bhagwati, departmental officers, and a large number of people of the locality.

The farmers of the area too heaved a sigh of relief with the hope to use it to preserve their agricultural produces. Three years have already elapsed after the inauguration of the cold storage facility. However, the authorities concerned could not make the cold storage facility functional to date.

As if to cap it all, the cold storage complex has transformed into a hub of antisocial activities. The non-functioning of the cold storage has compelled the rural farmers to leave their crops in the open fields, a practice that deprives them of due prices.

The foundation of this cold storage facility was laid by the then Minister for Public Relations, Basanta Das, on February 29 of 2016. The Assam State Agriculture Marketing Board (ASAMB) took up the initiative for construction of the cold storage at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore with 90 percent funding from NABARD and 10 percent from the State Agriculture Department. It was stated that the cold storage would have one freezer room with two chambers to store frozen food products, milk and dairy products, and food pulp at -20 degrees Celsius with a capacity of 550 metric tonnes, and one chiller room with seven chambers to store potatoes, tomatoes, fruits, and vegetables at +2 degrees Celsius with the same capacity. The salient objective of this state-of-the-art project was to create scientific temperature-controlled storage capacity with allied facilities in producing areas to meet the requirements of the farmers for storing produces, to reduce the post-harvest loss and wastage of perishable horticultural crops, to avoid seasonal gluts and maintenance of quality produce throughout the year, to provide a remunerative price to the growers by enhancing the holding capacity of their farm produces, and to make available farm produce to the consumers at a competitive and affordable price.

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