BHUBANESHWAR: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has transported 5.79 lakh tonnes of rice from Odisha , Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to south and north India during lockdown period. It is working with Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other state agencies for smooth supply of rice.Many people in India prefer rice in their diet and the country produces enough rice for consumption. According to the estimates for the financial year 2019-20, out of a total 292 million tonne crop production, about 117 million tonne is rice production. During this lockdown period, ECoR has loaded 191 trains of rice of 5,79,113 tonnes till now from different stations to various parts of the country.The ECoR has three railway divisions- Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Waltair divisions. Maximum number of trains have been loaded with rice in Sambalpur division. It has loaded 149 trains of approximately 4,54,894 tonnes from various stations like Kantabanji (8 trains), Balangir (14), Bargarh (36), Dungripali (16), Junagarh Road (12), Kesinga (12), Komakhan (5), Belsonda (13), Khariar Road (3) and Hirakud (30).Rice cultivated in all 30 districts of the state Mahanadi-Ong catchment area produces plenty of rice crop. These 149 trains were dispatched to places in Jharkhand and Bihar. "This has been done with the FCI. So rice to the food plates in Bihar, Jharkhand is transported by ECoR from central and western parts of Odisha," said an official statement of ECoR.Waltair division has loaded 1,10,884 tonne of rice in 37 trains. It has been loaded from various districts of Andhra Pradesh like Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Jeypore district of Odisha. Similarly, Khurda Road division has loaded five trains of rice of 13,335 tonne with the help of FCI from Ganjam district. These were sent to Dharampuri in Karnataka, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchirapalli and Trinelveli in Kerala and Tamil Nadu."Due to uninterrupted goods service by the Railways during this lockdown, public distribution system at several places have been working smoothly and people are getting their favourite rice dishes on their plates," said the official statement.Besides, the ECoR is also running parcel trains to transport varieties of items including medicines, PPE kits, surgical equipment, milk and dairy products and other essential items to different parts of the country.