Twelve cold storage facilities, which were started five years ago and were to be completed within three months, are in a state of disrepair in various places in the Far West. Some have been built and some are under construction. Even those that have been completed are not operational. There is no decision on when the work on those under construction will be completed.

Neither the government agencies nor the construction companies are concerned about the construction of cold storage facilities. Despite this extreme misuse of government funds, the construction companies have not shown any interest.

The construction of the cold storage building in Alital-5, Dadeldhura, which was started five years ago, is now in disrepair. Weeds have grown around the building. The cold storage project, which was started in Baisakh 2078 BS, was agreed to be completed in Ashar of the same year. But even after five years, the construction of the building has not been completed.

According to the Directorate of Agricultural Development, Dipayal, the construction of the building could not be completed due to the negligence of the construction company LD Construction Basgadhi. The office says that despite repeated extensions to the contract, the work has not been done.

According to local farmer Lal Bahadur Dala, due to the lack of construction of a cold storage, potato seeds have to be transported to Pahalmanpur in Kailali, 124 kilometers away. 'The purpose of building a cold storage was to make it easier for local farmers, but now they are forced to pay a high rent and take them out of the district,' he said. According to Dala, he has transported 55 quintals of potato seeds to the cold storage in Kailali this year alone.

In Dadeldhura, which is considered a pocket area for vegetables, farmers are facing problems due to the lack of storage of not only potatoes but also other vegetables. 'Without a cold store, vegetables such as cauliflower, tomatoes and others rot, and the seeds have to be saved,' said Dala. Cold stores are not only in Dadeldhura, but also in other places in the Far West Province.

Cold stores are lying idle

Under the leadership of the then Chief Minister of the province, Trilochan Bhatta, it was announced to build cold stores in 13 places in the province through the annual budget for the fiscal year 2077/78. The implementation of which began in Baisakh 2078. The target was to complete most of the structures of this project within three months. But in the five years since the construction began, six structures have been built, while the construction of the remaining seven centers is also in a state of limbo.

Financial details of cold stores in the Far West Province

Out of the six constructed, except for Martadi in Bajura, five cold stores have not yet been put into operation. The initial cost of these projects was estimated to be Rs. 81.5 million, but the provincial government has spent Rs. 52.5 million. But the operation has not been finalized.

According to the agreement reached with the construction company in Baisakh and Jestha 2078 BS, the construction of the cold storage should have been completed from Asar to Bhadau. The Attariya ‘cold store’ in Godavari was under construction since 2074 BS. According to the Directorate of Agricultural Development, Dipayal, the responsibility of completing the incomplete Attariya store along with 12 other stores was taken forward through this project. But the structures built are also unused, showing the lack of skilled technicians and necessary equipment.

Where are the abandoned cold storages?

So far, the construction of cold storages is abandoned in Alital in Dadeldhura, Mahakali Municipality in Darchula, Dasharathchand in Baitadi, Dipayal in Doti, Siliguri and Jorayal, Bhajani in Kailali and Punarhash in Kanchanpur.

Of these, only about 25 percent of the work has been completed in Mahakali Municipality of Darchula, while no expenditure has been made in Dipayal Siliguri of Doti so far.

The work of these stores, which were contracted with the construction company in Baisakh and Jestha of 2078 BS, was to be completed within a period of three months from Asar to Bhadra. According to the Directorate of Agricultural Development, Dipayal, among the completed constructions, a 350 metric ton capacity cold storage facility in Attariya, Godavari Municipality of Kailali is also included.

The construction of Badimalika in Bajura, Sanfebagar in Achham, Chure, Lamkichuha in Kailali and Dodhara-Chandani cold storage facilities in Kanchanpur have also been completed. But out of these, only the cold store in Badimalika-8 in Bajura, built at a cost of Rs. 4.1 million, has come into operation.

After the completion of construction, the structures of Lamkichuha, Chure, Dodhara-Chandani and Badimalika have been handed over to the local level, while the buildings of Attariya and Sanfebagar have not been handed over . Engineer Kosraj Badu of the Directorate informed that these structures have not been fully operational due to problems such as lack of skilled technicians and necessary equipment .

Lokesh Bhatta, Vice President of the Sudurpaschim Province Committee of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Central Member of the Seed Traders Federation, says that most of the cold stores built in the Sudurpaschim were built based on political access rather than studying the needs and production areas .

Bhatta, who has been producing seeds through the Himalayan Seed Company for about 20 years, said that there was not enough discussion with agricultural experts, farmers and the condition of local production while building the cold stores . ‘Many cold stores were not built in the right place . Crops according to the location could not be promoted,’ he said, ‘In some places, production is not up to the capacity of the cold stores . Stores were built, but there was no plan to increase vegetable or fruit production accordingly.'

According to him, farmers have not been able to use the structures easily since they were built far from the production area. The structures built have not been put into operation due to the lack of a clear market link, operating procedures, and management model.

As Bhatta said, neither the local level nor the province has the procedure for operating cold stores. The Ministry of Land Management and Agricultural Cooperatives Sudurpaschim has stated that although the store was built according to the public procurement regulations, the province has not formulated the procedure for operating it. According to an official from the ministry, since the province will build it and hand it over to the local level, the procedure for operating it should be formulated by the local level.

The cold stores built in Chure in Kailali and Dodhara-Chandani in Kanchanpur have not been put into operation due to lack of three-phase electricity. Information Officer of Chure Rural Municipality Kali Prasad Bhatta said that they are coordinating with the ministry for electricity supply.

According to the agriculture branch of Dodhara-Chandani, the cold store is closed due to weaknesses in the selection of the location. According to Krishnaraj Pant, head of the municipality's agriculture branch, there was no electricity at the time of construction of the store. During the feasibility study, the municipality had ensured the same location by saying that it would provide electricity until the store was built. But the electricity did not reach the store for four years after its construction.

'We have built the cold store and the municipality's hospital in the same place.' The plan was to connect electricity after the construction of the cold store. The store was built in a year, while the hospital took time to build, so there was a delay in the operation of the cold store,' said Pant, head of the agriculture branch. According to him, this store will be operational within the next fiscal year.

Although the store in Lamkichuha in Kailali has been operational for some time, the machine is currently closed due to breakdown. The cold store has been shut down because the technician to repair the machine has not been found in Nepal. The municipality's agriculture branch has stated that technicians will now be brought from India to repair the machine.

The municipality has already handed over this store to the Kisan Multipurpose Agricultural Cooperative. Lamkichuha has also not prepared a procedure for its operation.

The Directorate of Agricultural Development has said that preparations have been made to ensure electricity supply after the lack of electricity was seen as the main problem in the operation of the cold store. According to the directorate, a plan has been taken forward to expand the electricity line, provide necessary technical assistance and train manpower in the cold stores that have not been put into operation.

'We have made a plan to provide assistance in supplying electricity and train technicians to run the store,' said Badu, an engineer at the directorate. 'We are providing subsidies on electricity tariffs, and we are ensuring a budget for that.'

According to Nrip Bahadur Sunar, a member of the Provincial Policy and Planning Commission, the cold store project has been left in a state of limbo because it was selected on the basis of accessibility without a detailed study. He said that while preparing the plan, attention was not paid to matters such as electricity, production equivalent to the capacity of the store, market access and road expansion.

‘The province was new when this plan was prepared. At that time, the province had not been able to establish a situation and such plans were implemented without a feasibility study,’ said Sunar, ‘Now the province has become institutionalized. All plans to be made now are built only after a detailed study.’

Attariya Cold Store Becomes Dilapidated Without Being Operated

The cold storage built at the Agricultural Produce and Wholesale Market in Attariya, Kailali has become dilapidated without being operated. The construction of this cold store, which began in 2074 BS, was built with the joint investment of the Association, the province and the local government.

The province government alone spent 9.2 million rupees and installed the equipment. But it has not been operational till date. The structure has been experiencing water leakage due to long-term non-use. The panel is rusting. The structure of the second floor has become weak.

Dilliraj Joshi, chairman of the Agricultural Produce Wholesale Market Management Committee, says that the operation is not possible with the budget of nine lakh rupees allocated for this in the current fiscal year. ‘Water leaks, the panels have been eaten by moths.’ The upper floor is not in a position to bear the load,’ he said, ‘This situation has come about when the responsibility has been given to an inexperienced construction company.’

He also said that the responsibility for operation could not be taken up due to many technical problems. According to Joshi, the committee has not yet received a letter of completion of the construction. He says that the responsibility for operation has not been taken up due to many technical problems.

According to him, this situation has come about when the contract was given to an expert engineer and an inexperienced construction company during construction. Currently, this cold store is leaking water, the lab and panels have been eaten by moths and the channels and panels of the second floor need to be replaced.

According to Nandalal Bhatta, former chairman of Attariya Agricultural Produce and Wholesale Market, the construction industry, the Directorate of Agricultural Development and the Ministry of Agriculture are mainly responsible for the abandonment of this store. The foundation stone of this store was laid in 2074 BS under Bhatta's leadership.

'We built it ourselves within a month, instead of giving it to us, the province gave it to the Directorate. The company that the Directorate had awarded the contract to left the store abandoned for years. The Directorate was not serious about this issue,' he said.

According to him, the installed panels and equipment have not been put into operation for years and there is no servicing, so it has come to a situation where it needs to be repaired before it can be operated. 90 kV electricity is required to fully operate this store. But only 75 kV electricity has been connected. Although the Directorate has put it on paper as completed, this store is still under construction. Not even wood has been laid on the ground floor of the store.

Bhatta, former chairman of Attariya Agricultural Products, says, ‘The directorate is reluctant to test it. They say it is completed outside. We have not received a letter saying it is completely completed,’ he said.

According to agricultural engineer Kosraj Badu, the structure is currently being studied by a technical team. The repair and operation process will move forward only after the technical report comes. Farmers are losing both product storage and fair price due to the failure to put this structure, which is located at the main entrance to the Far West, into operation.

Preparations to blacklist the construction company

LD Construction Basgadhi, Bardiya, was given the responsibility of constructing cold storage in the rehabilitation of Alital and Kanchanpur in Kailali. Shree SH Construction Martadi, Bajura, was given the responsibility of constructing cold storage in Sanfebagar, Achham and Martadi, Bajura.

Baitadi's Big V & Company Baitadi, Doti's Dipayal's contract was awarded to Bhairav ​​Shakti Nirman Sewa Pvt. Ltd., Doti's Jorayal store contract was awarded to Bhumiraj Roshan Nirman Sewa Jorayal, Kailali's Bhajani-based store contract was awarded to G&J Nirman Sewa Bardagoria, the same district's Chure-based store contract was awarded to Chandravikas Yagyalakshmi Nirman Sewa, and Godavari's contract was awarded to Ashu Nirman Sewa Nawadurga, Dadeldhura.

Badu, an engineer at the Agricultural Development Directorate, Doti, under the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, claims that the project has been stalled due to the negligence of the contractor company and that the work has been delayed despite sending repeated letters.

'The condition of the completed construction is not satisfactory. We have written 18-19 letters to the construction companies that have taken responsibility for the seven projects. They say they will work, but there has been no progress in practice,' he said.

According to him, the process of blacklisting contractor companies that do not complete the cold storages under construction on time and are negligent has also been initiated. The blacklisting process was also initiated earlier, but after the 14th amendment to the Public Procurement Regulations, their deadlines were extended, said Engineer Badu.