Gujarat: Gondal APMC gets mango ripening chambers, auction shed

The CM also inaugurated a huge auction shed built at a cost of Rs 4 crore in Gondal APMC. This shed with steel roof is 200 feet wide and 500 feet long and has RCC flooring. This is also the 13th roofed auction shed and 14th overall in the Gondal, the largest APMC of Asia in terms of volume of trading agricultural commodities. Furthermore, State Health Minister Nitin Patel laid foundation stone of two more such sheds in the APMC complex.

Due to throat problem, the CM did not speak much. But in his address to farmers, Nitin Patel said that the state government was committed to the welfare of farmers.

“The previous UPA government at Centre had intentionally blocked permission to install gates on Narmada dam and therefore the dam could store water only one quarter of its total capacity. But after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, permission has been granted to install gates and farmers of Saurashtra will start getting Narmada water for irrigation through SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation) Yojana,” said the Minister.

Gondal AMPC chairman Jyantibhai Dhol said that the fruit ripening chambers will be available to farmers and traders by merely paying electricity bill for the number of days they hire the facility. He added that the chambers will make mango, banana and papaya ripe in organic manner for three days and will make the fruits healthier to eat.

Gondal is a major market for ground-nut and cotton. However, it is also a major trading centre for mango which come from Junagadh and Gir Somanth districts.