Aahar Meals For 3000 People Go Waste In Sambalpur

Sambalpur: Alleged gross mismanagement on the part of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation has resulted in huge waste of Aahar food meant for about 3000 people.

The incident came to light on Thursday when some lawyers in the city found a tractor-load of Aahar food being taken to the dumping yard and recorded it in their mobile phones.

“When we asked the driver, he said the food has been collected from the Aahar centres,” senior lawyer Bijitendriya Pradhan told the media.

The lawyers later brought the matter to the knowledge of the district administration.

Talking to the media, manager of the Mana Trust Subharanjan Mahapatra said there are five Aahar centres in Sambalpur and Burla where the food for an average of 4,500 people are supplied daily from their kitchen at Sambalpur. “Usually, all food supplied is consumed. As there was a low turnout for two days on January 8 and 9 due to the trade union strike, the centres were left with surplus food,” he added.

He further said that the Trust prepares food as per the instruction of the Corporation. “Unless the Corporation asks us to prepare less food, we supply the usual amount every day,” Mahapatra pointed out.

Deputy commissioner of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, who is in charge of the  Aahar centres, could not give a satisfactory reply as to why the Corporation decided to prepare food for 4,500 people on the second day of the strike when there was poor turnout on the first day.

Sambalpur collector Samarth Burma said if more people had turned up at the Aahar centres on these two days and gone without food, there would have been problem. At the same time, huge wastage food is also a problem. But under no circumstances, the food should be treated as waste and dumped. “I have asked the deputy commissioner to probe into all these aspects and submit a report by tomorrow. If any lapses are found in the report, appropriate action would be taken,” he said.