Money
Province 3 invests Rs 450 million to build cold storages
The ministry aims to operate all 11 facilities within the current fiscal year.Pratap Bista
Some of the facilities are under construction while some are in the pipeline with the ministry aiming to operate all 11 facilities within the current fiscal year.
For storing purposes, the ministry has funded the construction of the largest cold storage of Province 3 in Thaha Municipality, Makwanpur. The facility, with the capacity to hold 1700 metric tonnes of fruit and vegetables, has reported physical progress of around 25 percent, as of date.
According to Nirmal Poudel, an officer at the ministry, construction work of the cold warehouse with the lowest storage capacity of 200 metric tonnes at Bhimeshwor in Dolakha has also begun.
And the ministry has also initiated building works at Khairahani in Chitwan and Benighat in Dhading poised to boast cold storages with the capacity to stock 1500 metric tonnes of farm produces.
According to the Ministry, out of the 11 warehouse locations, works at Kavre and Rasuwa facilities — able to hold 300 metric tonnes each — have been expedited while facility construction has begun in two areas in Sindhupalchok, one each in Ramechapp and Sindhuli districts.
Operation and maintenance of the cold warehouses will be handed over to the local levels once the facilities are ready for business.
The provincial assembly members of respective locations, district coordination committee and the ministry have been delegated the responsibility to keep tabs on the progress of construction-related works.
The provincial government has allocated grants to fund the construction of such facilities as per the clauses of the Cold Storage Construction and Operation Work Procedures issued by the ministry in 2018-19.
As per the Work Procedures, the land made available by the local levels would be utilised to build cold warehouses and the local agricultural cooperatives are required to invest in the infrastructure.
The under-construction warehouses are being built with 70 percent of grant money infused by the provincial government and 30 percent local investments.
The ministry claimed that the cold storage will help avert wastage of large quantities of agricultural produce and help farmers to get better prices.
The farmers are bound to sell their produce for lower rates to avoid losses caused by fruit and vegetable decay for lack of cold warehouse facilities.