The East Coast Railway on Monday said it had loaded 191 trains with rice of approximately 5.79 lakh tonnes from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during COVID-19 9 lockdown.
“The ECoR is taking all the possible efforts in coordination with the Food Corporation of India and other State supply agencies to transport rice from the three States known as ‘Rice Bowl’ of India to southern states and northern states,” said ECoR in a release here.
It said constant rice transportation by trains ensured that people were getting their favourite staple diet on their plate without any interruption.
During lockdown, the ECoR loaded 191 trains of rice amounting to 5,79,113 tonnes from different stations.
“Sambalpur division of ECoR leads the table with 149 trains of loading 4,54,894 tonnes of rice from different stations such as Balangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Kalahandi, Mahasamund, Belsonda and Naupada,” said ECoR
Rice is grown in 30 districts of Odisha. Farmers reap benefit of double crop due to availability of irrigation facility in districts like Subarapur, Bargarh and Sambalpur. These trains with rice load are dispatched mainly to places in Jharkhand and Bihar.
In Waltair Division, 37 trains has loaded 1,10,884 tonnes of rice. Rice was collected from places like Vishakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram.
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