Farmers from Uravakonda, Guntakal and Aluru Assembly constituencies lost supplies of dry chili peppers kept in a cold store in the Ballari industrial area of Karnataka after the building caught fire.
The five-story Jayanthi cold store caught fire at 9 p.m. on Saturday and four fire trucks struggled to extinguish the fire by morning after chillies turned to ashes on three floors.
By the time the reports were last received, the stocks on two upper floors had been rescued. However, the loss is estimated at a few million rupees.