The paddy stocks, lying at MSTDC's purchase centres, had not been lifted by transporters and rice millers for the last two years and there are not enough godowns in the district to store such a huge quantity of the foodgrain, sources in the Corporation said.
If the paddy, part of which is already in bad condition, is not milled within the next couple of months, it will become completely unfit for human consumption, they said.
A staggering 3.65 lakh quintals of paddy worth Rs 37 crore from 2010-11 season are lying at 55 purchase centres here in Eastern Maharashtra, the sources said.
The stocks, filled in gunny bags, have been kept in the open and covered only with plastic sheets.
Asked about the prevailing situation, a MSTDC official said traders and millers did not lift the produce as they could not afford the rates quoted by Food Corporation of India (FCI).
MSTDC lacks infrastructure to store the foodgrain and repeated requests to FCI to save the paddy has elicited no positive response so far, he maintained.
MSTDC is a State Government-appointed procurement agency for some districts in Eastern Maharashtra.
