Cold storage unit to come up soon for eradicating crop supply shortage

Kolkata: The Bengal government in its effort to eradicate the shortage in supply of crops will set up a cold storage unit. The move comes in the backdrop of a nationwide crisis over the deficit of onions that resulted in skyrocketing of prices.

"A cold storage unit will be soon be established in the state. The project is on its final stage. This is a 50,000 tonnes project. It is a private one. I will not say much about it now. We will tell you the details soon," said state agriculture department chief advisor Pradip Mazumdar on the sidelines of West Bengal Cold Storage Association's (WBCSA) 55th Annual General Meeting held at a city hotel on Tuesday.

State Agriculture Marketing minister Tapan Dasgupta, WBCSA president Tarun Kanti Ghosh and other officials attended the meeting.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is always concerned about the farmers and common people. She has always maintained that there should be a balance in the supply and demand chain of onion," said Dasgupta.

It might be mentioned that in December 2019 the price of onions had shot up throughout the country due to a shortage of supply from Nasik. In Tamil Nadu and Madurai onion was sold for over Rs 200 per kg, while in Kolkata, the price touched Rs 150.

To maintain a balance of supply and demand, the state Food department had sold onions at Rs 59 per kg from all fair price shops and Sufal Bangla retail outlet.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also paid a surprise visit to the Sufal Bangla retail outlet at Jadubabur Bazar, to take stock of the prices of onion and other vegetables.

In November, the state had sent an indent of 800 tonnes in total at the rate of 200 tonnes per week to the Central government. However, till date there is no information on when it's going to arrive in Bengal.