The plying of public transport being suspended due to Coronavirus situation, mangoes from Chapainwabganj and Rajshahi will now be carried to Dhaka, Chittagong and other places of the country through trains.
For carrying one kilogramme of mango from Chapainawabganj to Dhaka, it will cost a trader Taka 1.50 only while for carrying the same from Rajshahi will cost only Taka 1.30.
The decision of procuring, transport and marketing of mango from Rajshahi and Chapainwabganj to Dhaka and other places was taken at a meeting held at the office of Deputy Commissioner, Rajshahi on Wednesday morning.
Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Hamidul Haque presided over the meeting. The meeting was attended by the representatives of various Courier services, officials of the department of Agriculture, West Zone railway officials, officials of Rajshahi district and Metropolitan police, mango traders and mango growers.
Decision was taken on the meeting that required number of trains will move from Chapainwabganj to carry mango only. Mango traders of Chapainawabganj will be able to carry mango through train to Dhaka at a cost of Taka 1.50 per kilogramme while the cost will be Taka 1.30 from Rajshahi. The trains will be halted in the stations near Dhaka to unload mangoes.
In addition to train services, the courier services from Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj will also carry mango to Dhaka and other places of the country.
According to sources, on the backdrop of Coronavirus situation, Agriculture Minister Dr. Abdur Razzak talked though video conference with farmers and traders of marketing and selling of various seasonal fruits including mango and litchi on May-16. The decision of carrying mango through trains was taken the same day.
Afterwards, Railway Minister Nurul Islam directed the authorities of West Zone railway, Rajshahi, to take necessary measure to carry mango from Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj through trains.
It is learn, earlier, no mango was commercially transported through trains. Both mango farmers and traders are happy to get a chance to carry mango through trains. They mentioned, they will no more face harassment during carrying mango through trains which they often faced during carrying thorugh road.
It is learnt, there are mango orchards on 17,686 hectares of land and the target of production of mango in the district has been fixed at 2,10,000 metric tonnes.