70,000 tonnes of paddy at DPCs damaged in rains: EPS

“After procurement centres in Mayiladuthurai refused to procure paddy from farmers they were forced to keep their paddy in the open. In the recent rains the harvested crops stored outside the procurement centres were damaged. There were no tarpaulin sheets also outside the paddy procurement centres,” said Palaniswami, while moving an urgent calling attention motion in the Assembly. Charging that despite rain forecast for the Delta region, he said no precautionary action was taken by paddy procurement centres. The damage to paddy had resulted in huge loss to the state government and such issues should be prevented. The state government must provide compensation for the damaged paddy, he added.

Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader Velmurugan said that paddy is lying in the open and is not being received by procurement centres. Government spends crores of rupees to purchase tarpaulin sheets, but they get damaged in one or two rains. He questioned whether the state will take steps to store all the paddy inside the DPCs. Replying to both the members, Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam said that 1.2 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been covered by tarpaulin sheets and kept in 170 DPCs. On an average, 5,000 metric tonnes are sent to rice mills across the state.