EAST RUKUM, Dec 2: A packet of salt costs nine rupees. However, residents of East Rukum, one of the youngest districts of Nepal, are forced to pay three times the amount as the district lacks a storage facility.
Before federal boundaries were placed, a salt reservation center was built at Taksera. However, with new a district, residents have urged to transform the reservation center into a warehouse. “We are buying a packet of salt for 25-30 rupees,” residents said.
Pregnant women deprived of iodized salt in Bajhang
Laxmi Gharti, a resident said, “Governmen manufactured salt doesn’t reach here, so we are forced to buy at an inflated price in the district headquarter.” In other parts of the district, residents pay much higher prices for a packet of salt.
As cost to commute to the reservation center proved expensive, Mohan Basyal, another resident shared that that they used raw salt instead of iodized salt. “We do not consume iodized salt. Instead we use raw salt,” he said adding that the new district should have a warehouse of its own.
“We are forced to sell salt at higher prices because prices are up due to transportation when we buy itself,” Lokmani Sharma, a vendor said.
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