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| Kathmandu Sunday April 07, 2002 Chaitra 25, 2058. |
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Officials discuss ways to
ensure salt supply to Karnali
Post Report
KATHMANDU, April 6:A joint meeting of government
officials and parliamentarians from all the five districts of the country’s seriously
food deficit Karnali zone has decided to chalk out ways to prevent shortage of salt and
ensure adequate supply in the region.
The meeting, held under the aegis of the
government’s Leprosy Control Programme, has also decided to explore possibilities to
set up mini-iodisation plants in Humla, Dolpa and Mugu districts to iodise the salt
imported to the region from the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.
A statement issued here Saturday by the Salt
Trading Corporation, the government-entity responsible for supplying salt in remote and
semi-remote districts, also said that the officials have decided to use army helicopters
to supply salt in the region.
The officials have also decided to take action
against old contractors failing to make timely supply and appoint new contractors to carry
out the job, and send quotas even to far-flung villages from the district headquarters.
The districts are Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, Kalikot and Jumla.
Lawmakers representing the Karnali districts and
officials from the Leprosy Control Programme Management Committee, Ministry of Trade
Commerce of Supplies, and the Salt Trading Corporation were present at the meeting held
here Friday.
"Arrangements would be made to supply salt
to the villages en route to the district headquarters, and the existing tradition to
supply salt straight to the district headquarters would be reviewed," the statement
said.
Beginning next year, it has also been decided
that the officials would review the actual salt needs of the region, and supplies would be
made keeping in mind the population density and the presence of staff in the districts,
according to the press release.
The zone faced a crippling shortage of salt in
recent days, with the deteriorating security situation in the country’s poorest
region taking the toll on socio-economic conditions and the supply channel. The districts
also routinely face a shortage of food.
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