Huge quantity of chilli was reduced to ashes in the VGK cold storage

A huge quantity of chilli was reduced to ashes in the VGK cold storage located opposite Asia’s largest yard early Thursday. It is estimated that 70,000 bags were in the twin chambers. Workers could retrieve 30,000 bags in one chamber but not the 40,000 in the other. Farmers usually store the stock and wait for demand in the international market.

District Fire Officer Srinivas said they had received a call at 3 am and seven tenders from all over the district were pressed into service besides three from Vijayawada and Ongole.Chairman of the Agricultural Market Committee Mannava Subba Rao said farmers would be compensated as the stock had been insured. The AMC would also seize the records and verify the claim of the management and the farmers.

The more than 150 cold storages in Guntur are in demand throughout the year for chilli, cotton and other commercial crops. But many storages do not have emergency relief measures mandated by the Fire department and even after many accidents, most of them do not have an NoC from the Fire department.“We created openings in the slab and doused the flames with heavy hose pipes,’’ said Mr. Srinivas.

The Fire department had a tough night as 20 haystacks were gutted in Namburu around midnight. Even as fire tenders from the town were pressed into service, the cold storage incident had the men scurrying there.