Other States - Orissa   

Foodgrains' transport in open wagons opposed

Staff Reporter

Workers say this will result in loss

BERHAMPUR: Transportation of food grain by open wagons can lead to increase in transportation loss and degradation of its quality, feel the workers of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

They are opposed to recent decision of the FCI and the railways to transport food grain by open wagons that are used for transportation of coal. President of the Orissa unit of the Bharatiya Khadya Nigam Karmachari Sangh (BKNKS) S.P.Mohapatra said food grains like rice and wheat was being transported by open wagons long back. But the FCI authorities decided to get the food grain transported in closed wagons more than a decade back due to demands of the BKNKS as it was causing ample loss of food grain during transit.

With the transportation of food grain by closed wagons the transportation loss had come down from around five per cent to 1.5 per cent. "With the use of open wagons the transportation loss would increase again," he said Mr Mohapatra said although tarpaulin covers are provided for food grains being transported by open wagons, they are not sufficient to protect the cereals properly. Private firms dealing in food grains are still using closed wagons and checking out the weight of their goods before loading and after delivery, which is not the case with the FCI, Mr Mohapatra said.

The workers are also worried about the fact that if the transportation loss was found to be more than 0.5 per cent during unloading then the liability was fixed on workers receiving and unloading the food grain. But at many railway stations there is no proper facility to protect them. For the Berhampur unit of the FCI, the food grain stock is being unloaded at Jagannathpur, a railway station that has no godown or shed to protect the food grain during unloading in case of rain.

The BKNKS members said food grain would start arriving in open wagons to Orissa in September and October during which time rains also occur.

Dharna staged

Uttar Pradesh the BKNKS members have already staged a dharna demanding the FCI and the railways to stop transportation of food grain by open wagons.

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