Residents of the Priyalaxmi Mill compound area made a hue and cry inside the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown in the same locality,complaining about an insect menace rooted in the stuffed food grains there. Residents of societies such as Ashapuri,Saraswati Nagar,Amarnagar,Shrinagar and Rajiv Nagar alleged that insects nesting in the godown were troubling them for quite some time. Dilip Parmar,the president of one such society,said: We have been complaining about this problem for long,but FCI officials have not taken any step. The insects start flying in the evening and fall in the food; we have to put cotton buds in our childrens ears. These insects also get into the eye of commuters causing a burning sensation. He added: Although it can be clearly seen that the insects fly out of this godown,the officials deny it. If there are insects in the food grains,it also means that they are distributing the same to the public,which is. Meanwhile,FCI officials maintained that the insects are not flying out of the godown. P R Shastry,Warehouse Managar,FCI,Vadodara,told The Indian Express: These are false allegations by the locals. The insects are actually coming from the drainage water,which has accumulated near the slums. There is no scope of insects infesting our grain stock,as senior officials inspect the same every month. There are some locals who want to create problems for us,and they have made an issue of it. According to Shastry,14,000 tonnes of wheat are stored in the godown. But some FCI officials,who took locals along with media persons inside the godown,maintained that the insects are coming from the grains only because a large quantity of wheat is not covered with plastic sheets. There is a staff shortage because of which certain preventive measures are not being taken regularly, the official said.
