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Adarsh Cold Storage facility cave in: Preparations underway to shift potatoes
Priority will be given to shifting approximately 20,000 sacks stored in the shed, as they face a high risk of spoilage following the ammonia leak at the site.
Preparations have begun to remove nearly 1.3 lakh sacks of potatoes stored at the Adarsh Cold Storage facility, which has been declared unsafe. The SDRF will oversee the entire operation. The horticulture department has written to the Prayagraj district magistrate seeking permission to start the removal process.
Priority will be given to shifting approximately 20,000 sacks stored in the shed, as they face a high risk of spoilage following the ammonia leak at the site.
Officials from the horticulture department said the structure has become dangerously dilapidated, raising fears that parts of the building may collapse while teams work inside. For this reason, the extraction of potatoes will be carried out in the presence of technical experts.
Reports submitted by all relevant departments have unanimously declared the cold storage structurally unsafe, leading to the decision to permanently halt its operations. Although only a portion of the building has collapsed so far, any agency intending to revive operations in the future will first need to demolish the existing structure entirely.
District magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said that reports from all departments have indicated that the cold storage facility is unsafe. “Following the completion of relief and rescue work, our immediate priority is to remove the potatoes stored here. Any one wishing to operate this facility in the future will have to demolish the existing structure and build a new one. A final decision will be taken once the potatoes have been removed,” he added.
Debris removal continued on third day
On Wednesday, the Municipal Corporation continued its operations to clear the debris. After the police granted limited access, shifting of the sacks of undamaged potatoes stored within the cold storage shed onto vehicles and transporting them to another facility continued.
Police sends ex-minister’s driver to jail
The Phaphamau police on Wednesday arrested Mohammad Jabir alias Javed from Malak Harhar and sent him to jail. He is the driver of former minister and owner of the caved-in cold storage Ansar Ahmed and a resident of Kanhai, Mandah in Pratapgarh and was named as an accused in connection with the cold storage mishap that occurred in Chandapur village two days ago. Prior to this, the police had already arrested and sent the former minister Ansar Ahmed, owner of the facility and named in the case along with his son and nephew to jail.
Directives issued to inspect all cold storage facilities in district
Following the incident at the Adarsh Cold Storage facility, all cold storage units across the district are set to undergo inspection. District magistrate Manish Kumar Verma has issued orders for the inspection of all such facilities. He has constituted a committee headed by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), comprising officials from the public works department, horticulture department, police, fire department, and other relevant agencies. The committee members will visit all 50 operational cold storage facilities within the district to assess their current conditions, following which further action will be initiated.
Scrap dealer arrives at Bela Kachar with a weighing scale
Debris from the collapsed cold store is being dumped at Bela Kachar. Along with potatoes, the rubble contains large quantities of steel and iron angle bars. Locals began extracting metal bars from the debris with hammers. Upon witnessing this, a scrap dealer arrived at Bela Kachar equipped with a weighing scale and began purchasing the iron and steel bars on the spot at a rate of ₹25 per kilogram.
