TIRUCHY: The heavy downpour across the Delta region from Friday night has damaged around 1.50 lakh bags of paddy stocked at an open-air godown at Patteeswaram near Kumbakonam in Thanjavur on Saturday. Farmers blamed the lethargic attitude of the officials for the damage caused by the delay in moving the procured paddy.
There was a sudden downpour across the Delta region till late hours on Friday, and in Thanjavur, Kumbakonam received the maximum rainfall of 11.2 cm, while Papanasam received 6.7 cm, and Budalur recorded 6 cm rainfall, while there was no rain in Pattukkottai and Peravurani Taluks.
The torrential rainfall resulted in a heavy stagnation at the open-air godown at Patteeswaram controlled by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, where 30,000 MT of paddy could be stocked temporarily. Sources said that around 1.50 lakh bags of paddy stocks were damaged in the rain.
Citing official apathy in moving procured paddy to the warehouses, farmers stated that the open-air godown lacked proper tarpaulin sheets to cover the procured paddy stocks.
While sources claimed that the movement of paddy from the DPCs to Warehouses halted soon after the regime change, talks about fresh contracts were under way. Given the situation, the officials were not concerned about the movement of paddy, at least from the open-air godowns, despite a warning about heavy rains in the Delta region, sources said.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Agriculture Minister R Vinoth avoided answering questions on paddy damage in Kumbakonam but told the reporters that the officials would conduct field inspections. On Saturday evening, the TNCSC officials visited the spot and deployed workers to move the paddy that was in good condition.