The State government will build 49 direct purchase centres (DPCs) with storage facilities in Cauvery delta districts to protect the paddy procured from farmers from exposure to rain until it was transported to godowns.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday laid the foundation through video conference from Chennai for construction of a total 63 DPCs with a storage capacity of 250 metric tonnes each in 10 districts at a total cost of ₹39.37 crore.
A majority of the DPC buildings will come up in delta districts – 20 in Thanjavur district; 10 in Tiruvarur, seven each in Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts; three in Pudukottai and two in Cuddalore district. The construction of the DPC buildings would help store the paddy procured at the centres safely, preventing the exposure of the food grains to rain.
Storage facilities
Meanwhile, the foodgrain storage capacity of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation has been augmented by 8,800 metric tonnes, with the inauguration of two modern yards at Adavathur and Irungalur on Tuesday.
Mr. Stalin inaugurated the paddy storage facilities, too, through video conference from Chennai. Collector M. Pradeep Kumar, accompanied by TNCSC officials, inspected the Adavathur facility during the inauguration.
The storage capacity at Adavathur has been increased by 7,800 metric tonnes with the opening of a covered storage yard with concrete flooring. A similar storage yard of 1,000 metric tonnes has been added at TNCSC’s Irungalur complex.
According to TNCSC sources, the capacity of the two storage facilities at Adavathur and Irungalur were being increased by a total of 24,000 metric tonnes at a total cost of ₹12.70 crore. In February this year, the Chief Minister inaugurated storage yards with capacities of 6,200 metric tonnes and 5,400 metric tonnes at Adavathur and Irungalur complexes, respectively.
The storage yards inaugurated on Tuesday were established under the second phase of the project. In all, the Chief Minister inaugurated 84 modern paddy storage yards built at an estimated cost of about ₹93 crore in Ariyalur, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukottai, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Sivagangai, Thiruvallur and Madurai districts. The yards had a combined storage capacity of 1,16,800 metric tonnes, according to a press release issued by the State government.
