Sylhet Correspondent :
The adulterated essential goods including ghee, milk powder, oil, semolina, vermicelli (Shemai), flour flooded the markets in Sylhet city and District. Regular operation of mobile courts by the administration and Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) and raids by law enforcing agencies including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) could not control the selling of low quality and adulterated essential goods in the markets of Sylhet Area.
Meanwhile, district administration, law enforcing agencies including RAB and authorities concerned are conducting raids against the persons who are involved with selling adulterated food and goods recently. In the meantime, the authorities seized many posh shops and fined many of the businessmen for selling low quality and adulterated essential goods in the markets.
The law enforcing agencies took special measure to nab the criminals. Besides, the Magistrates of the Sylhet district administration are conducting special drives against the hotels, shops and enterprises that are involved with selling adulterated food in the Sylhet city. Different food-items either produced by low-quality, rotten ingredients, stale or in an unhygienic environment are on sale unabatedly in the markets pushing the public health at great risk.
Sources said, the dishonest businessmen, importers and whole sellers formed syndicate to adulterate the milk powder and essentials. Usually, the dishonest businessmen sold the adulterated goods to the local retail markets. The consumers used to buy the adulterated goods from the retail markets, as the prices of the adulterated goods are low. Hotels, bakeries, restaurants and food manufacturing enterprises of Sylhet are the main customers of adulterated milk powders and other essential goods. They bought it from the whole sell market of the Sylhet city and used it for making various types of food
As a result, people are suffering from adulterated foods and essentials during the holy month of Ramadan. The suffering of the people is increasing as a number of syndicates in the markets have become active again in the Sylhet city, concerned sources said.
CAB central committee member Jamil Chawdhury said that the unscrupulous business enterprises in the city are adulterating foods by mixing harmful chemicals which is eventually posing serious hazards to peoples health.
He also said that harmful chemicals including formalin, carbide and fabric dyeing color are being laced with different food items. Besides, many food items are manufactured in an unhygienic condition.
Citizens of the Sylhet city said that the adulteration has been rising alarmingly as exemplary punitive action was hardly taken against the errant manufacturers of foods. They said that in absence of help line service, the consumers are being deceived on regular basis and they cannot formally vent their grievances.
Unless there is a well-coordination among all the bodies concerned including the law enforcing agencies for checking adulteration in foods, the initiative would go in vain.
The CAB, Sylhet chapter leaders expressed deep concern over the prevailing situation in the Sylhet city and they demanded intensification of the activities of the authorities concerned against the low quality and adulterated essential goods in the Sylhet city markets.
