The joint collaboration of the horticulture department and department of posts, Telangana Postal Circle, to deliver the ‘king of fruits’ at the doorstep of consumers overcoming the limitations of social distancing in these times of COVID crisis has evoked tremendous response in twin cities.
Postmaster General K. Sandhya Rani, who flagged off the department vehicles here on Wednesday, said that they were happy to partner with the horticulture department and reach the end consumer at their doorstep with their favourite variety of mangoes and other fruits too. “Our teams have expertise in transportation and door delivery. There are no restrictions for postal department vehicles as they come under essential services,” she said.
Within a few days of the horticulture department taking orders over the phone and then through its website Tfresh.org from May 3, orders have been placed so far for 40 tonnes of mangoes and two tonnes of sweet lime, informed commissioner of the horticulture department L. Venkatram Reddy.
Three tonnes of the fruit were already delivered and 12 tonnes would be delivered on Friday.
Responding to the positive response, Ms. Sandhya Rani said she was not surprised given the good quality, naturally ripened and hygienically handled fruits. If the demand persists, it will be continued post lockdown, she said.
The postal department has a fleet of 60 vehicles, out of which 45 are normally busy with speed post and other deliveries. Due to lockdown, only 20 vehicles were engaged for regular work and the remaining being used for transporting medicines and PPEs. “We are leveraging our traditional strength of network to reach out to new sectors to be of help to organisations and people,” she said.
Mr. Venkatram Reddy said so far, they received orders worth ₹6.1 lakh for mangoes with Banaganapalli variety leading followed by Himayat. Several customers texted their feedback on excellent quality.
The mangoes are sourced from Kollapur in Nagar Kurnool, Jagityal, Mancherial, Sattupalli in Bhadrachalam district and Siddipet. On an average 10 to15 tonnes are being sourced per day and the five kg package is priced at ₹350 to ₹450.
The prices vary based on quality, grade, farmers’ rate and transport cost. Customers can track order through the QRP code on the stack and the geotag from the farm the mangoes are sourced from, he said. Delivery will take about four to five days after an order is placed.
