17 tonns of mangoes destroyed in city

RAJKOT: Over 17 tonne of mangoes ripened using hazardous calcium carbide was destroyed by the health officials of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) from Sadar Bazar area of the city on Tuesday.
According to RMC health officer Pankaj Rathod, the mangoes had come from Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. It was ordered by city-based fruit trader Bharat Fruits.
Rathod said that they had information about a huge calcium carbide infested consignment of mangoes coming to the city’s fruit market.The health officials stopped the two trucks carrying the mangoes as soon as they reached the warehouse of Bharat Fruits in Sadar Bazar.
On searching the truck, health officials recovered 5-6 kilograms of calcium carbide from the two trucks. “The carbide was used to ripen the mangoes in the truck while being transported from Andhra Pradesh. We seized the mangoes and have destroyed it,” said Rathod.
The owner of the Bharat Fruits was also fined Rs 10,000 by the RMC officials. This is probably the largest consignment of mangoes destroyed by the civic body officials. According to officials, the traders used to sell the mangoes from outside the state at cheaper rates in the retail markets after artificially ripening it using the hazardous carbide.
Meanwhile, the RMC health officials also conducted raids at 25 other godowns in the city on Tuesday. They found that in seven godowns calcium carbide was being used to ripen the mangoes. They also seized huge quantity of rotten mangoes from these warehouses.