Four cold storages fear loss for lack of power supply
Four cold storage owners in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts are desperately looking for electricity connection to run their cold storages in the current season. Otherwise, the owners said they have to count huge losses and the growers in the areas also face the same fate due to lack of potato preservation facilities.
Addressing a press conference at Salam Guest House at Asrampara in the town yesterday afternoon, the owners of the four cold storages said though they have paid load preservation fees to local Palli Bidyut Samity as per rules before September 6, they are yet to get electricity connection.
The owners of Amanat Cold Storage, Hawlader Cold Storage, SB Agro Industries Ltd of Thakurgaon Sadar upazila and SB Cold Storage under Debiganj upazila of Panchagarh said they have already completed construction work and installed machinery involving about Tk40 crore.
We have to incur huge losses If Palli Bidyut Samity fails to give electricity connection within January 15, the cold storage owners said. They urged the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to ensure power connection so that they can run the cold storages in the current season.
There are 11 cold storages in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts with a capacity to preserve about 60,000 tonnes of potato.
Thakurgaon farmers cultivated potato on 26,900 hectares of land with a production target of 4,47,883 tonnes while Panchagarh farmers on 8,510 hectares of land with a production target of 1,67,038 tonnes in this season.
About seven lakh tonnes of potatoes were cultivated in the two districts last year and the farmers were compelled to sell their produce at lower prices due to shortage of storage facilities, they said.
Cold storages owners Abdus Salam Hawlader, Mohammad Abdullah, Sheikh Jahangir Alam and Delwar Hossain addressed the conference.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments