The High Court yesterday ordered authorities concerned to prosecute unscrupulous traders, who use harmful chemicals to ripen fruits, under the Special Powers Act, 1974. The act allows even death penalty as punishment.
In response to a petition, the HC also issued a set of directives to the authorities to stop use of harmful chemicals in ripening and preserving fruits and sale of those ripened fruits.
On May 10 last year, the same court passed similar directives following a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
The city markets are flooded with various summer fruits, including mangoes, jackfruits, litchis, pineapples, watermelons, papayas and bananas, many of which are artificially ripened with toxic chemicals.
Experts say, multiple health complexities including problems in the kidneys, heart and liver could develop and diseases like ulcer and gastric can form if people eat fruits ripened by carbide, ethephon or ethylene oxide.
Expressing concern, the court yesterday came up with the directives following a supplementary petition to the original writ petition filed by the same organisation.
Citing newspaper reports, the new petition prayed to the court to revive its last year's directives to stop the use of harmful chemicals in fruits. It said the use of harmful chemicals stopped last year after the HC directives but those directives are not being properly enforced now.
A mobile court reportedly recovered a huge quantity of contaminated fruits from a market in the capital and destroyed those a few days ago, it said.
An HC bench yesterday ordered Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and Rapid Action Battalion to continuously monitor fruit depots in Dhaka so that contaminated fruits cannot be stored or sold.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore asked for everyday tests of fruits at wholesale depots in the capital.
It also ordered the chairman of the National Board of Revenue to take immediate steps to monitor spots through which fruits are imported in the country.
It directed the deputy inspector general of police in Rajshahi to deploy police forces in the commercial mango orchards to stop the use of chemicals for ripening mangoes.
It asked the food and home secretaries to form a committee comprising representatives of those ministries to make recommendations for the government in this connection. It asked the secretaries to report to the court within 15 days.
The secretaries were also asked to constitute vigilance teams to monitor the fruit markets.
Furthermore, the HC directed the inspector general of police to take steps for filing cases against people responsible for the use of chemicals in fruits and asked him to report to the court within 15 days.
On May 10 last year, the HC also issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why it should not be directed to take effective measures to protect public health by stopping the use of chemicals on fruits and why their inaction in this regard should not be declared illegal.
The rule is, however, still pending with the HC, petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told The Daily Star yesterday.
During the hearing yesterday, Manzill told the court that fruits such as apples, mangoes, grapes, bananas and papayas play an important role in maintaining good health of citizens. But some corrupt and dishonest traders are using chemicals like carbide to ripen them and formalin to elongate their shelf life.
He said the mangoes, the most available fruit of this season, are reportedly being artificially ripened with chemicals and those mangoes are being stored and sold.
On June 1, 2008, the HC in a verdict directed the government to set up a food court in every district and appoint sufficient food analysts and inspectors in all districts within two years to prevent food contamination.
The court had also directed the government to inform the court by July 1, 2010, about its progress in complying with the directives.
The government has not implemented the HC verdict till date, Manzill said.
Assistant Attorney General Shaikat Basu stood for the government.
Source: The Daily Star (May 27, 2011)
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