Enarada, Mysore, June 29, 2013:
The Central Food and Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) dispatched another consignment of two ton of food items to victims of the flood-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand today.
The first consignment of three ton was dispatched two days back and another four ton was sent from the CFTRI licensed units in Delhi and Jaipur.
Briefing the media here CFTRI Director Dr. Ram Rajashekharan said “Though it was an arduous task to prepare such a huge quantity in a short notice, it was accomplished by good team work. The dispatch so far comprises bisibele bath, huliavalakki, high protein rusk and chapatis along with high energy supplements .”
Continuing, Dr. Rajashekharan said that though CFTRI was a research institute, the task of supplying the food items was taken up on a war footing when the order was received on June 26 and up to three ton of items was made ready in 24 hours with scores of scientists, staff and assistants working day and night.
To reduce the post-rescue mortality rate, Dr. Rajashekharan said that Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) was also sent along with the food consignment sponsored by Jagat Pharma, Bangalore.
Ruling out lapses during dispatch, the Director said that the consignment was air-lifted from Bangalore to Dehradun which was received by the officials of Indian Institute of Petroleum (a unit of CSIR) and dispatched to the flood victims by an assigned NGO.
He added that all the food items have a long shelf-life of three months.
Senior Scientists Dr. Subramanya, Dr. Lokesh, Dr. Salimath, Dr. Renu Agarwal and Dr. A. Srinivas were present.
