Click to play videoMumbai: In an attempt to once again dispose 33,000 tonnes of infected red wheat the Maharashtra government is now keen on passing it off to bakers and flour mill owners.
Earlier when lab reports had declared the wheat unfit for human consumption, the government had attempted to sell it through the public distribution system.
“The government has red wheat and there was a suggestion that it would like to auction it,” Vice-President of the Bombay Bakers Association, M Yakub said.
There are around 2,000 bakeries in Mumbai alone, consuming around 10,000 tonnes of wheat daily. If reports are to be believed, the government plans to auction 60,000 tonnes of wheat to these bakeries and that includes the 33,000 tonnes of infected red wheat lying in the godowns.
The pav, a staple diet of the Maharashtrians, comes mostly from these bakeries. One can only imagine the impact this proposal would have on the health of lakhs of Maharashtrians.
Meanwhile, the opposition has already seized the issue. “We are going to raise the issue in the Assembly and in Parliament,” BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said.
In fact the state Human Rights Commission has also passed an order questioning the quality of the wheat. And with the tenders for the next import order being floated, the BJP is planning to move the court for a ban on the imports.
(With inputs from Samreet Kaur)
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