Raichur rice mills owners, traders hit by Chennai rains

Millers incurring loss of Rs 2.80 crore per day'

 The transportation of high quality Sona Masuri rice from Raichur district to Tamil Nadu has been stalled due to heavy showers in the neighbouring state. Because of which the rice traders in the undivided Raichur district have incurring a loss of Rs 2.80 crore per day.

Over 200 rice mills in the district, including Raichur city, used to supply about 1,000 tonnes (50 lorry loads) of rice to Tamil Nadu on a daily basis. The agents in Chennai used to procure Sona Masuri and other high quality rice from Raichur mills and export the same to other countries.

The rice mill owners and the traders are not being able to get in touch with the agents in flood-ravaged Chennai. Hence, the supply of rice to Tamil Nadu has been stalled, the rice mill owners lament.

The rice mills in Raichur city alone used to transport at least 15 lorry loads (17 tonnes per load) to Chennai daily. The lorries have stopped plying due to heavy rain that lashed Chennai and the coastal Tamil Nadu following low pressure formed over Bay of Bengal.

This is causing grave hardship to the mill owners and the workers dependent on the mills for their livelihood, said, A Papareddy, president of Raichur district rice mill owners’ association.

Andhra to the rescue

 “The supply of rice to Chennai has been stopped due to the inhospitable weather. Instead, the traders and rice mill owners here are sending the rice to Andhra and Telangana, where over 50 per cent of paddy crop has been damaged due to below par monsoon.

“In coastal districts, the ready for harvest rice has been damaged due to inclement weather. So, there is a demand for rice from Andhra and Telangana. This has helped the rice mill owners to recover the losses, to a certain extent, they have incurred from no supply to Tamil Nadu,” said, Maram Chippanna, secretary of the association.