Stones of farm projects worth Rs198 cr laid in Himachal Pradesh

Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 27

Giving a boost to the fruit and vegetable economy of the state, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur laid the foundation stone of several projects of the Agricultural Marketing Board worth Rs 198 crore across the state through videoconferencing from the Dhalli Sabji Mandi today. The most notable among these projects are the strengthening of cold chain infrastructure at Parala and pre-cooling chambers at Kharapatthar (Rs 59.25 crore), extension of fruit and vegetable market, Dhalli (Rs. 18.86 crore), upgrade and strengthening of fruit and vegetable market, Parala (8.52 crore), creation of fruit and vegetable sub-markets at Menhdali (Rohru) and Shilaroo (Rs. 20 crore each), and a new fruit and vegetable sub-market at Bandrol (Rs. 12.01 crore). Thakur said all these projects would be completed within one-and-a-half year.

Terming the laying of the foundation stone for projects in a single day as historic, Thakur said these would go a long way in strengthening the economy of the farmers as they would get better facilities to market their produce and get remunerative prices.

“Covid-19 has once again vindicated the fact that farmers are the backbone of our economy, therefore the government is committed to providing all possible assistance to the farming community,” the Chief Minister said.

Talking about the Bhattakuffar market yard, which was damaged in a landslide sometime back, the Chief Minister directed the marketing board to restore it at the earliest. He promised all possible help from the government in this regard. Besides, he said the Marketing Board would be allowed to construct small link roads to facilitate the transportation of agricultural produce.