Jamshedpur: A team of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee led by Special Officer Sanjay Kumar paid a surprise inspection visit to Sakchi vegetable and fruit market and seized 100 packets of banned Calcium Carbide from the possession of one of the traders.
The said chemical was to be used for artificial ripening of mangoes by the accused trader, identified as Parvez Alam. The trader had planned to spray the chemical on 200 kilogram of unripe mangoes, sources said.
Kumar said the said chemical has been banned by the Government of India. Many courts have passed orders against using the chemical, but fruit traders and dealers blatantly use the chemical to ripen unripe fruits in order to earn huge profit, he said.
The Special Officer said the surprise raids would continue across the city to put reins on the unscrupulous traders using the banned chemical.
Sources said the banned chemical is mostly used in ripening bananas and mangoes. Consuming fruits laced with the chemical may give rise to many serious and fatal diseases of lungs, brain and other organs including cancer, sources said.