Gadchiroli (Maharashtra): Amid coronavirus-induced lockdown where people across the nation are facing scarcity of food, lack of godowns in Gadchiroli has resulted in a huge loss of government fund as quintals of grains purchased by the Maharashtra Tribal Development Department got rotten in rains due to unavailability of proper storage space.
Gadchiroli is famous for growing surplus food grains including paddy, jowar, tur, moong and maize thus ideal for purchasing the produce on a large scale.
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This year the Maharashtra Tribal Development Department procured more than 4 lakh quintal Kharif grains till April 30 out of which only 1 lakh 81 thousand 391.3 quintal grains have been purchased and sent to a rice mill while the rest is rotting at the procurement centres. On the other hand, procuring of Rabi grains began from May 1. The grains are spoiled due to rains and lack of godowns in the district.
There are 25 godowns across 37 centres in 5 talukas of South Gadchiroli and these godowns are of low storage capacity where the grains are stored in open spaces.
The procurement centres lack moisture protection measures which result in dampening of grains due to rains. Rabi farmers are still selling their harvest but they need to wait for almost 5 days due to lack of space for storage at these centres.
The department mostly uses tarpaulin to protect the grains from water which is not sufficient for the extra quantity of grains.
This year, the production and purchase of rice in the district was surplus but the supply was limited due to lockdown, therefore, the rest quantity will be lying in the open waiting for its fate due to lack of proper storage arrangements.
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