Bhubaneswar: Several cold storages along the trajectory of severe cyclonic storm Fani in the state have suffered huge losses in terms of damage caused to their infrastructure systems and ultimately leaving them non-functional.
A number of cold storage operators of Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Khurda claim that they have suffered huge losses as most of their expensive infrastructure systems was destroyed.
Janardan Sahoo, Secretary of the Odisha Cold Storage Association, said, “A large number of cold storages in Odisha were destroyed due to the cyclone. Many of these lost crores of their investments. The cyclone destroyed the most expensive parts of the cold storages – the puff walls of the cold storage. The whole cold storage sector and storage of farm products are now going to be affected.”
With many cold storage systems going kaput in the vulnerable areas, the storage of agricultural products like potato would be an uphill task. This would also affect the quality of vegetables. The aftereffects of the devastation caused by Fani could escalate the prices of vegetables in the affected areas, owners of cold storage opined.
“Since many cold storage units were destroyed beyond repair, the vegetable supply chain and lives of farmers are going to be hit. We need to first assess the extent of damage. The government needs to chip in faster to restore the services and assist us in the efforts,” a cold storage owner said requesting anonymity.
A visit to some of the cold storage units along Cuttack, Puri and other areas revealed that the long puff walls of the cold storages were broken and blown away by the cyclone. Many of the cold storages have broken glasses and other damages to their facilities. Broken glasses, damaged iron gates and rooftops at these cold storages marked the arrival of the cyclone Fani in these areas.
