Cold storage at Madhira in Khammam collapses after on fire for two days
A fire-hit cold storage in Khammam district collapsed after burning for two days, destroying over 12,500 quintals of chilli belonging to more than 300 farmers. Authorities have asked affected farmers to register for insurance claims
Khammam: A five-storeyed cold storage that caught fire on Saturday evening at Athkur near Madhira town in the district collapsed on Monday.
The fire was said to have been caused due to an electric short-circuit; firefighters tried to control the fire for the past couple of days but in vain. As there were no means to bring the fire under control or to salvage the farm produce in the cold storage, firefighters stopped their operations on Sunday evening.
It was said that around 12,500 quintals of chilli belonging to over 300 farmers from Bonakal and Madhira mandals in Telangana and Gampalagudem in Andhra Pradesh were stored in the facility.
The walls of the cold storage, which was on fire for the past couple of days, caved in on Monday evening, while the entire farm produce was reduced to ashes and the fire was still raging, with thick smoke covering the area.
The cold storage management advised farmers, who stored chilli at the facility, to register their names with the Madhira tahsildar by submitting receipts issued to them for insurance claims.