HC takes suo motu notice of damage to paddy in Delta districts

Court wonders why paddy procurement from farmers had not taken place so far

The Madras High Court on Tuesday took up a

suo motu public interest litigation petition on the basis of reports that several bags of paddy in Delta districts had got damaged in the unseasonal heavy rain due to lack of sufficient storage facilities.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and Anita Sumanth expressed concern over the damage caused to paddy despite the districts of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai, the rice bowl of the State, having recorded a bumper harvest in this season.

Also wondering why the procurement of paddy from the farmers had not taken place so far putting the agriculturalists to great misery and financial difficulties, the judges ordered notice to the State government as well as Central Warehousing Corporation.

The judges directed Assistant Solicitor General G. Karthikeyan and State Government Pleader V. Jayaprakash Narayanan to obtain instructions by Friday.