ECoR plays important role in uninterrupted supply of rice during lockdown

Bhubaneswar, April 27: During this period of lockdown, ECoR has loaded 191 trains of rice of approximately 5, 79,113 tonnes till now, from different stations to various parts of the country. This has beden done in collaboration with Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other state civil supplies departments like Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Department (APSW), Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Department (APCS) etc.Sambalpur Division: Maximum number of trains have been loaded in Sambalpur division of ECoR. Till now, Sambalpur division has loaded 149 trains of approximately 4,54,894 Tonnes from various stations falling in districts like Balangir ( Kantabanji station-8 trains, Balangir station-14 trains), Bargarh ( 36 trains),  Sonepur ( Dungripali station-16 trains ), Kalahandi ( Junagarh Road station-12 trains, Kesinga station-12 trains ), Mahasamund ( Komakhan station-5 trains, Belsonda station-13 trains), Naupada ( Khariar Road station-3 trains) and Sambalpur (Hirakud station-30 trains) .In Odisha, rice is grown under diverse ecosystems and a wide range of climatic conditions. It is cultivated in 30 districts of Odisha, some have high productivity and others with low productivity. Mahanadi-Ong Catchment area produces plenty of rice crop. Districts like Sonepur, Bargarh, Sambalpur etc also depend on the canal irrigation system of Hirakud reservoir.These trains are dispatched mainly to places in Jharkhand and Bihar like Daltonganj, Dumka, Madhupur, Tatanagar,Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Namkom and Darbhanga etc. This has been done with Food Corporation of India (FCI). So rice to the food plates in Bihar, Jharkhand is transported by ECoR from central and western parts of Odisha.Waltair Division:Waltair Division has loaded a total of 37 trains of rice of approximately 1,10,884 Tonnes. It has been loaded from various districts of Andhra Pradesh like Vishakhapatnam ( Pendurthi station-10 trains), Srikakulam (13 trains), Vizianagaram ( Bobbili station-6 trains, Vizianagram station -5 trains ) and Jeypore district (3 train) of Odisha.  Of these 37 trains , 17 have been loaded for Food Corporation of India ( FCI) and others for various state agencies like Andhra Pradesh State Civil Supplies (APSC) and Andhra Pradesh State Welfare (APSW) departments.Andhra Pradesh is an agriculturally developed state and yield rate of paddy cultivation is one of the highest in the country. Although it is cultivated in all the districts under irrigated condition but Krishna- Godavari delta is ‘Rice Bowl’ with highest yield.This rice has very important place in the food plates of people from Andhra Pradesh (Cuddapah and Anantapur like Adhoni, Whitefield and Jowy) Tamilnadu (Chenganpalli, Tirupr), Karanataka ( Hubbali, Mysore) and Kerala ( Thrissur) in the form of different dishes and other rice products. ECoR is ensuring that people in these areas keep enjoying their favourite rice dishes without bothering about lockdown in the country.Khurda Road Division:In this lockdown period five trains of rice have been loaded with FCI from Ganjam District (Jagganathpur station of Khurda Road division) , measuring about 13,335 Tonnes for destinations in south India like Dharampuri in Karnataka, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchirapalli and Trinelveli in Kerala and Tamilnadu.Major Consumption Centres:Rice from ECoR jurisdiction is being transported to South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Northern states of Bihar and Jharkhand. ECoR is taking all the possible efforts in coordination with the Food Corporation of India and other State supply agencies to transport rice from this part of ‘Rice Bowl’ of India to Southern states and northern states like Jharkhand, Bihar. This is the reason that public distribution system at these places have been working smoothly even in this time of country vide lockdown and people are getting their favourite rice dishes in their plates without any interruption.