Steel silo being built near Bhairab in Khulna

A modern food storage or steel silo is being constructed on the bank of Bhairab River in Khulna for storing wheat.

The project is currently under construction on 7.44 acres of land at a cost of Tk 355.91 crore inside the Maheswarpasha CSD area of Daulatpur Thana of the city with the financing of the Bangladesh Government and World Bank.

This food storage will make an important contribution to addressing the food crisis of the people of this region after a natural disaster after the completion of its construction.

The capability of the silo is to store food for up to three years without the use of preservatives.

According to related sources, the infrastructure construction work started in the project area in 2016, but due to various reasons including architectural planning, design, financing, and appointment of consultants, the construction of the main silo in the second phase was delayed.

On March 28, 2021, open tenders were invited for the construction of silos for wheat storage. After completing all the processes, the project which started in January 2022 will be completed on December 11, 2024.

The contractor of the project said that 42 per cent of the project has already been completed. A French private company called Jericho France is the designer of the state-of-the-art steel silo and they are mainly supervising the work as a consultant.

Civic leader Nur Hossain Johnny said that the construction of this silo will not only benefit the people of the Southwestern region but will play a very effective role in overcoming the food crisis in the event of any major natural disaster in the country. Md Majedur Rahman, the engineer assigned to oversee the project, said that 42 per cent of the work has already been completed.

“We expect to finish the construction of the steel silo which will be used to store wheat within the specified time. The silo will have six cylindrical bins with a storage capacity of 12,700 tonnes each,” he said.

He further said that about 76,200 tonnes of wheat can be stored in total for up to three years without the use of preservatives.

Majedur added that eight such modern food storage or steel silos are being constructed in eight regions of the country. Of these, six are for storing rice, and the remaining 2 are for storing wheat.

Khulna District Controller of Food Md Tazul Islam said, “Steel silos are the modern method of food preservation. The storage is being constructed so that there is no food shortage in the country after natural disasters.”

He added that the southern region is prone to natural disasters due to its proximity to the sea and such food storage is a necessity for the area. If its work is completed, it will make a significant contribution to the welfare of the people of the region as well as the entire country.

Tazul further added that wheat will be transported via river, road or rail and stored in the warehouse automatically through the conveyor belt. The wheat can later be distributed to different districts from storage through an auto-packaging system.