Now, grain drain in Karnataka

Shimoga and Bangalore: Even as the Supreme Court cracked its whip on foodgrain rotting issue, the grain rotting trail doesn't seem to end. Now, the Southern state of Karnataka too has joined the ill-famed league.

With just a careless look around the godown, one can spot the worms in the moist rice.Thousands of metric tonnes of rice, rotting at godowns in Shimoga, the home ground of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. Eight godowns were raided by locals of Machenahalli locality who said the rice was brought over three years ago by rail, and transported to the godowns on 300 trucks.

"Its 30 years since the warehouse was built... no renovation has been done. When it rains, the roofs leak, due to which the rice has got worm," said a local resident of Shimoga.

Meant to be distributed to the very poor in the nearby villages of Karnataka's Shimoga district, the rotting grains prove that the Supreme Court's order of distributing foordgrains for free to the poor is not being heeded.

"Can't they give it to those who don't have it? Why can't they give the rice to us?" asks
Bhagyamma a slum-dweller from Bangalore.

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But, grain rotting is one issue and the politics behind it is another. The State Government, when contacted, was on the denial. They passed on the blame to negligence by the Food Corporation of India(FCI)

"It's not just a simple issue of food rotting in a godown. It's tied up to the larger issue of food security. In fact, on April 14 this year, there was a starvation death in Balenahalli which the state government has taken absolutely very lightly," says Clifton D'Rozario, Advisor to the Commission of Supreme Court.

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However, the Food Corporation of India authorities passed the ball to the Central Warehousing Corporations court.

"The Shimoga godown belongs to the CWC from whom, we have hired the godown for storing the foodgrains," said Y K Kunju, General Manager, FCI - Karnataka

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And finally, the Central Warehousing Corporation rejected the claims of grain rotting outright.

"We have verified the stocks and it is all of very good quality, in fact we have reported the correct position to the district authorities also," said C T Thomas, Regional Manager, CWC.

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