consumerfed

Thiruvananthapuram: Consumerfed has faced a loss of Rs 1.82 crore in the period between 2009 – 2012, when their seven floating supermarkets sank in water bodies.

The project which was implemented without any feasibility study faced a setback from the initial phase. But these hitches were ignored and more floating supermarkets were rolled out.

However, within two years of implementing all the 7 markets functioning on boats, it was closed down.

The supermarkets were functioning in areas including Kuttanad. More than the safety of the boats, these were not accepted by the public. The rates of items sold were fixed based on the expenses for maintaining the boats.

According to the report by accountant general, Consumerfed failed to explain why the project was initiated knowing there was no provision to register boats constructed in ferrocement.

Even after registration was denied to the first boat in 2009, 6 more boats were bought in 2010.

As the supermarkets closed down due to loss, the boats were abandoned. These sank in water bodies. In 2017, it was decided to auction them. Spending Rs 6.47 lakh the boats were recovered  under water. In 2019, 4 boats were auctioned for Rs 92,000.

However, no action has been taken against the responsible persons who brought in such a huge loss, till date.