<i>Seasonal fruits still dearer</i>
Use of harmful chemicals to accelerate ripening of fruits alleged
There are abundant supply of seasonal fruits in the city markets. The photo was taken from Reazuddin Bazar on Tuesday. Photo: STAR
Prices of seasonal fruits in the port city are still beyond the reach of the common people despite huge supply of fruits this year, compared to the previous years. Besides, consumers are worried as the use of harmful chemicals to ripen the fruit is posing a serious health hazard. They expressed their resentment as no initiative was taken by the law enforcement agency or the authorities concerned so far in this regard said. Wahidul Haque, assistant commissioner (DB), said they are trying to know through their informers whether harmful chemicals are being used or not for ripening the fruits in the port city. Huge pile of fruits from different parts of the country and abroad is still dearer to the buyers of middle income families for higher price. With the arrival of season, huge quantity of mango, jackfruit, pineapple, litchi, blackberry, palm and a number of other seasonal fruits from different parts of the country have started coming here. Both the two wholesale trade points of fruit -- BRTC for mango and Firingibazar for jackfruit, pineapple and local mango -- are now busy in unloading lots of fruits. But the traders as well as vendors expressed their disappointment over the poor sale. Price of jackfruit coming from the Chittagong Hill Tracts is much higher this time compared to the previous years. Vendors are selling a medium sized jackfruit at Tk 100 to Tk 130 while same sized jackfruit was sold at Tk 70 to Tk 80 last year. Zahidunnabi, a teacher, said there is no reason of such price for jackfruit in this middle of the Bengali month of Jaishtha since it is the right season for the fruit. Vendors blamed it for increased transport cost. Pineapple from Naniarchhar, Burughat of Rangamati and other regions of Hill Tracts were sold at Tk 5 to Tk 7 a piece at Firingibazar on Sunday while it was at Tk 15 to Tk 20 in different city markets like Reazuddin Bazar, Karnaphuli Market and others. Buyers are also not happy with mouth-watering mango for its higher price and comparatively poorer quality. Different genres of mango like himshagar, langra, gobindo, sundari and guti from Rajshahi, Kushtia, Meherpur and some northern region are now on sale here but quality is not very good. Mangoes are being sold at Tk 80 to Tk 180 at Reazuddin Bazar, Kazir Dewry, Bahodderhat and Karnaphuli market. Kamal Uddin at Reazuddin Bazar said they are selling himsagar and langra at Tk 100 to Tk 140 per kilogram while sundari at Tk 80 and guti at Tk 70. Md Salahuddin said he bought some locally grown mangoes as they were comparatively cheaper and free from added chemicals. Local mangoes are being sold at Tk 40, a seller said. Salahuddin alleged that harmful chemicals are being used in most of the fruits to accelerate the ripening of fruits. He said the artificially ripen fruits look nice from outside but when cut a portion is found green while other part is rotten. Sources said a section of unscrupulous traders are allegedly using harmful chemicals like carbide or insecticides to change the colour of the unripe fruits like mangoes or pineapples to fool the buyers. Traders usually spray the chemicals keeping the mangoes in the baskets, said the sources, adding that the colour of the unripe mangoes can change within a day. Dr Gofranul Hoque, head of medicine department of Chittagong Medical College (CMC), said people might face digestive trouble and suffer from other blood related diseases if they take fruits with carbide. Some vendors and retailers said they also were incurring a loss by storing artificially ripen mangoes since they become rotten in a very short time. Zaman, a retailer, said they can't identify the chemical-added fruits while buying from the wholesale markets. Md Sabuj, a wholesaler at BRTC, refuted the allegation of adding chemicals. He said there is no need for adding chemicals this year since the weather is hot enough for fruits to be ripened naturally. Consumers, however, urged the law enforcement agencies to take stern action against such activities.
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