Traders breathe easy as flood waters recede

The floods in Gujarat has damaged property worth more than Rs 2500 crore including at warehouses storing commodities.

Rainwater entered the Shah Alam warehouse of the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).

Water damaged the walls of another CWC warehouse in Vadodara. Agricultural commodities like oilseeds and foodgrains were stored in the warehouse.

Warehouses stocking textile yarn reported damages in southern Gujarat, mainly in Surat city. Materials stored at lower levels close to the floor suffered most damage.

"We have already written to the municipal commissioner about the issue. Its very difficult to drain out rain water from the Shah Alam warehouse since it is in a low lying area. If the rain continues it will be an issue of concern," R M Meena, regional manager of CWC in Ahmedabad, said.

"Sugar has suffered the most and had been washed out in the torrential rains. Crops like wheat and rice have also been affected to some extent. A tanker containing 10,000 litres of kerosene oil has been washed out from one of the Surat godowns. We are taking protective steps to save the foodgrains and essential commodities," said P N Patel, director, food and civil supplies, for Gujarat.

"We do not have any commodities warehouse in Gujarat - our warehouses are in Kolkata and Kochin and they are safe and untouched by the rains," said Kailash Gupta, managing director, Multi Commodities Exchange of India.

"All the warehouse managers have been advised to take precautionary measures to prevent damage," said G Acharya, warehouse manager, State Warehouses Corporation (GSWC).

Ishwari Prasad, senior regional manager, Food Corporation of India (FCI), said, "We were having some problems in our godowns in the Valsad area, but things are under control now."