Following a downpour in Bangalore on Wednesday night, essential commodities worth over Rs 5 crore have been destroyed in the city's Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard -- a marketing board established by the state government in order to facilitate farmers to sell their produce and get reasonable price.

The commodities that were destroyed in the yard were premium quality rice that could have fed 20 children for a week, and jaggery.

Laadu Lal, one of the 76 shop owners at the Karnataka government's marketing yard who are badly hit, is trying to retrieve whatever is left of his tur dal stocks.

"I am facing a Rs 15-20 lakh loss, including rice, dal, aata, maida and wheat," he said.

The APMC yard caters to the food and grain needs of over two crore people in and around Bangalore district; over 2500 wholesalers and 500 retailers transact Rs 20 crore worth commodities and spices daily, yet the infrastructure is dismal.

"If we set right the sewage and drainage system, this kind of mishap could have been averted," said Shivaraj, Tahsildar, Bangalore district.

"For the past 20 years, it is most affected. The damaged rice and pulses are unfit for consumption, it has to be thrown," said Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president, Wholesael Grains and Pulses Merchants' Association.