COIMBATORE: Dharmapuri Collector K Santhi on Wednesday ruled out any possibility of 7,000 tonnes of paddy going missing from the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies godown in Dharmapuri.
After political parties raised allegations that stocked paddy had disappeared from the godown, the Collector accompanied by civil supplies corporation authorities inspected the open-air godown.
Speaking to reporters, the Collector said 22,273 tonnes of paddy were recently brought by goods trains to Dharmapuri from Delta districts.
“They were transported to the godown by lorries and stocked on 130 elevated beds. So far, 7,174 tonnes of paddy were sent to mills in the district, while the remaining 15,098 tonnes are in the godown,” she said.
Following reports that 7,000 tonnes of paddy has gone missing, a team of officials from the vigilance wing in the civil supplies corporation visited the godown for an inspection.
“A preliminary inquiry has revealed that someone has wrongly spread it out by referring to 7,174 tonnes of paddy sent to mills to have gone missing. Still, an assessment is underway and only after enumeration works get over, it will be known if there is any shortage in the existing stock,” she said.
The Collector further said currently the paddy is sent to mills by 100 workers through 120 lorries. “Also, the paddy stock in mills is assessed. But, there is no possibility of 7,000 tonnes of paddy to go missing and it is an exaggerated information,” she added.