‘Covid Shield’: UP government to sanitise potato cold storages, mandis

Lucknow / Apr 16,  2021

With the second wave of Covid-19 galloping, the Uttar Pradesh government is taking proactive steps to protect farmers and curb the possible spread of the disease in the rural areas.

As the process of wheat procurement and stocking of potatoes in the cold storages is underway, the authorities have started sanitising cold storages and agricultural mandis in the state.

In the current season, there is a bumper potato output in UP — estimated at 16 million tonnes (MT) — of which about 12 MT has already reached the cold storages so far.

Therefore, the government has decided to disinfect and sanitise all the 1,925 cold storages to ensure the safety of farmers.

UP horticulture department director RK Tomar has issued directives to the district officials in this regard. “More than 16 MT of potato has been produced this time. Out of which about 12 MT has reached the cold storages. It is our duty to sanitise the cold storages for safety purpose.”

However, he claimed the sanitisation of the cold storage will not cause any hurdle either in the storage or in the extraction of potatoes.

Since the Coronavirus cases are rising rapidly, the state government has implemented strict health and safety protocols, while making all possible efforts to contain the spread of the disease. The second wave is being reckoned as much stronger than the first wave that struck last year.

In fact, the dispensation is focusing on carrying out extensive cleanliness, sanitisation and fogging drive across the urban and rural areas.

According to a state government spokesperson, while the routine sanitisation drive in the revenue villages was already going on, the authorities have now taken up cold storages and mandis for sanitisation.

Since the wheat procurement process is slowly gaining momentum, the platforms of the mandis have been mandated for sanitisation twice a day to protect farmers from getting infected when they arrive to sell their produce. Wheat is being procured at 220 mandis of the UP Mandi Parishad (state agro marketing board).

Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered for setting up of dedicated quarantine centres for the migrant workers and labourers returning from other states fearing a full-fledged lockdown and loss of livelihood in the coming days following rising cases.

In his directive, Yogi directed officials to make all necessary arrangements to receive the migrant workers from the other states, including Maharashtra and Delhi. The quarantine centres will have all the facilities, including food and medical aid, for the workers returning to their home state.

All the migrant workers will be required to undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test to ascertain their medical condition and the need for medical support, if any.

Subsequently, after 14 days of monitoring in the isolation centre, these migrants will be sent to their home districts by buses of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).

(Virendra Singh Rawat is a Lucknow-based journalist who writes on contemporary issues of industry, economy, agriculture, infrastructure, budget etc.)