New Delhi: For the first time, the Railways sent a dry chilli from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh to neighboring Bangladesh via freight train. Earlier, Guntur and nearby farmers used to send dry chilli to Bangladesh by road in small quantities. According to the railways, farmers were not able to send their produce to Bangladesh via road due to the lockdown. Railway officials approached him about this and assured to send his product to Bangladesh through special goods train. The special goods train carrying farmers’ dry chilli reached Benapole, Bangladesh on 10 July.
It is said that this initiative of the railways also reduced the cost of transportation. The cost of sending Bangladesh Mirchi by road comes to Rs 7,000 per tonne, while the freight train cost Rs 4,608 per tonne. The Railways issued a statement saying, “Indian Railways transported dry chillies from Reddipalem in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh to Benapole in Bangladesh for the first time.” Chilli farming is widespread in Guntur and adjoining areas of Andhra Pradesh. Mirchi is internationally famous due to its good quality.
According to the rules of the railway, at least 1500 tonnes of goods are required for every trip to run any freight train, but the farmers of Andhra Pradesh did not have such quantity of goods. In this regard, the Southern Railway decided to help the farmers and in a positive initiative sent 384 ton dry chilli special parcel train to Bangladesh. The railways not only helped the farmers by doing so, but also pointed to a mode of export to a neighbor like Bangladesh in the Corona era.
According to the statement issued by the railway, this special parcel train of the railway had 16 coaches and each carried 466 bags of dry chilli. About 19.9 tonnes of goods were loaded in each bogie. It is said that this special parcel express had about 384 tonnes of chilli load. Railways have taken this initiative to emphasize the possibility of operating such parcel trains in the Corona era. Presently, Railways are running parcel special trains from time to time on selected routes to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities so that supplies continue uninterrupted.
