Click to play videoLudhiana: Tens of thousands of bags of rice have gone up in smoke and continue to smolder and burn in Khamano near Ludhiana. Spread over two kilometers all the grain has been lying in the open for the last five years.
A similar story was there in Fatehgarh Sahib, where wheat has been rotting in the open for the past few years, and now brand new grain from this year's harvest has been left to suffer the same fate as Punjab had a bumper wheat harvest this year.
The state has covered storage capacity of 106 lakh tonnes and 64 lakh tonnes of grain is lying in the open.
Moreover, Punjab, the biggest contributor to the government's buffer stock, has procured 109.4 lakh tonnes of grain and the state needs an additional 71 lakh tonnes of storage space.
Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has blamed the Centre for the situation.
"The Centre has not given us permission to build store houses," said Prakash Singh Badal.
"It is for the Government of Punjab to implement," said KV thomas, MOS, Food and Civil Supplies.
Private warehouse owners weren't helping either. They said land prices have shot up, but government agencies refuse to pay higher rent, making their business unviable.
"These warehouses are being wasted. We don't even get any rent," said Pyarelal, a warehouse owner.
"There is a huge gap in the rent being demanded by private warehouse owners and what is being offered by the government," said Kulwant Singh, Assistant Food Officer, Sangrur.
Grain is rotting because there is no storage space. There is no storage space since the financial viability of storage in an expensive land in a state like Punjab has long gone. The big question: is the government willing to save money on rent but not willing to save precious grain that feeds millions but is now rotting in the open?
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
