The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Plaints of bug swarms from FCI depot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 17, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Plaints of bug swarms from FCI depot

J. Malarvizhi

They `get into homes, food and even clothes, especially in the evenings'

CHENNAI : Residents have complained of bug swarms emerging from the FCI storage depot in Pattabhiram and invading their homes.

The bugs get into homes, food and even clothes, especially in the evenings, complained residents from the surrounding areas.

This is an annual phenomenon with the insects seeming to multiply just before the rains begin, they said.

"My eleven-month old baby was crying uncontrollably recently," recalled Priya, who lives near the depot. "It took us a while to find out that a weevil, usually found only in the depot, had crawled into her ear."

She and other residents said that the number of insects seemed to have gone up this year.

K. Viswanathan has been a resident of Bharathiar Nagar for some 27 years now. "The infestation is very bad this year," he said, "The insects fly into your eyes while driving and cause irritation. They get into food and even stick to clothes."

T. Sadagopan, co-ordinator, Thandurai Pattabiram Consumer Council, said that residents could expect the insect infestation to continue for another two months.

Switching off lights or putting up `mosquito nets' was no protection against them, he said.

After a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Madras High Court following a media report on the issue in 2004, a sample from the depot was sent for analysis.

Findings

Sources said that the public analyst found more than 200 live insects and 150 dead insects in a 47.8-gram sample of raw rice. The analytical report deemed the rice `not fit for human consumption and adulterated'.

K. Murugan, former resident of Pattabiram and advocate, said no final finding was given to the bench.

The storage depot supplied grain to Chennai and its nearby district, Mr. Sadagopan noted. The same rice will now go to the Public Distribution System, he said.

However, FCI officials denied the presence of insects at the godown.

They said that senior officials of the corporation were inspecting the godown regularly and they were taking precautionary measures. Regular fumigation was being done especially during this period as it was a breeding time for the insects.

The corporation was constantly monitoring the situation, they added.

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