The stink reaches you before one gets near the rice godown in Perumbavoor. Sacks of rice, damaged and rotten in the August floods, are stacked high. The sacks at the bottom of the stash are open and there are grains all over, with insects and flies swarming the whole place.
As if nothing is wrong, two lorries are being loaded with sacks from the godown by migrant labourers.
The sacks on top are being loaded first. Reports say the consignment is headed to mills in Tamil Nadu.
The pest-eaten and rotting rice in the lower stacks is being stored in plastic gunny sacks. The workers say these will be destroyed.
Some 50,000 tonnes of rice stored in 27 mills in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam had been damaged in the floods. A mill in Perumbavoor had the maximum stock. The one who secured the tender to clear the damaged stock sold it to mills in Tamil Nadu for a high price.
If reports are to be believed, the damaged rice is washed and polished to be sold in Kerala again.
A Manorma investigation found that these mills had sold the stock to cattle feed units and rice mills. This is despite a High Court order restraining the use of damaged rice to make cattle feed.
Stake-holders and food safety officials are apprehensive of the rice returning to the market in other forms.
A Manorama team which reached the godown was 'questioned' by the manager of the company tendered to remove the rice.
Manorama found, in an anteroom, three Supplyco officials tasked with supervising the rice removal. They were busy countersigning the documents produced by the tendered company's representative. The insurance company representative concerned was not to be found at all.
The lorries moved out and Manorama tried to tail them. They did not proceed to the destinations indicated on the way bill. The destination was indicated as Ganapathy Traders, Palani. The vehicles entered the Coimbatore-Pollachi route and by 11 pm halted at Santhi Feeds, Pappampetti.
Some of the rice is headed to rice mills in TN too. Manorama found out that many lorries had reached mills such as Palani Muruga Traders, Tiruchirapalli. We found many lorries unloading rice inside the mill.
It is suspected that the rice is washed, polished, re-packed and sent back to Kerala. The invoices with lorry drivers but clearly state that the rice is 'unfit for human consumption.'
Also, the 'damaged rice' sticker pasted on lorries are from off while entering Tamil Nadu.
Discrepancies have been found in the award of the contract by Supplyco to clear the damaged rice from godowns. It has been found that a company which quoted the highest price was overlooked to award the contract to another firm.
The anomalies came to light when he Supplyco's contract to one entity was examined. Supplyco is yet to award the contract for all the mills.
