Onion importers turn to Centre for relief

Amritsar, December 27

The publication of news “Imported onions dumped in open at the Integrated Check Post” in these columns on December 22 has moved the authorities to unload all kinds of material in godowns. Importers said their demand had been met. They have now shot off a communiqué to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar over damage to 22 truckloads of onions due to unloading in the open. For this, they also sought compensation.

They stated in the letter that after visiting the Integrated Check Post, they had found sufficient space in the godown as trade with Pakistan was negligible and on an average, eight to 10 trucks were arriving from Afghanistan. Even then the perishable commodity was dumped in the open.

They said the country was facing scarcity of onion and importers were importing the perishable produce from Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkey by investing a huge amount at their own risk. — TNS