Himachal's apple cold storage gutted in forest fire at Jarol-Tikkar

Shimla, April 29

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The cold storage of Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) at Jarol-Tikkar in this district has been damaged in a forest fire on Friday.

The controlled atmosphere (CA) store has eight chambers, where approximately 30,000 apple boxes are stored.

“The fire has not reached the chambers, and we are hopeful the fruit has not been damaged,” said an HPMC official from the spot.

“However, it can’t be said at the moment whether the apple could be kept here any longer as the power supply has been disrupted. Our technical team is assessing the situation and a clearer picture would emerge once they come to some conclusion,” he said, adding that the fire has been brought under control.

The forest fire reached the CA store late on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, apple growers are worried about their produce. Even if the stored apple is not damaged yet, growers fear huge losses in case they have to remove it from the store.

“We will sustain heavy losses if we have to sell our produce immediately as the market is very down at the moment,” said an apple grower.