As much as 2.50 lakh quintals of paddy procured by the district administration is reported to have rotten on account of improper upkeep and failure on part of the concerned authorities in timely lifting the paddy for custom milling.
It was learnt that the Marketing Federation and Food Department officials recently conducted an inspection at the paddy storage centers and wrote a letter to the State government while informing about the rotten state of the paddy.
Sources informed that about 37 lakh quintals paddy was procured in Durg district in the Kharif Marketing Year 2012-13 out of which around 6.30 lakh quintals paddy was transported to different storage centers including Selud, Karanja Bhilai and Nankatthi.
Due to poor upkeep, the paddy got damaged in rains following which the rice millers delayed its custom milling. Meanwhile, about more than a month ago, on directives of the district administration officials, the Food Department and MARKFED officials conducted inspection of the paddy in various centers during which paddy was found unfit for custom milling.