The Telangana high court has directed the state's law and order authorities to take strict action against wholesale fruit trades who use chemicals such as carbide to hasten the ripening of fruits.
In a stern message to traders resorting to such practices, the high court bench of Chief Justice T B Radhakrishnan and Justice A Rajasheker Reddy said: "State must ensure that this dangerous chemical is not available to anyone other than those who procure it under a licence for using it in their industries."
The high court bench was hearing a public interest plea (PIL) that was seeking the availability of chemical-free fruits for human consumption. The bench agreed with several aspects brought to the notice of the court by amicus curiae, S Niranjan Reddy, about the ill-effects of artificially ripened fruits on people's health.
"It seems carbide is used excessively to ripen different fruits and also manage other fruits and vegetables for human consumption. This is totally impermissible. It is forbidden by law. Use of carbide is confined to industrial purposes only," the bench said.
The bench also took note of the suggestion of the amicus curiae who mentioned the case of Tamil Nadu, which has 550 food safety officers to check food adulteration and chemical ripening of fruits. In comparison, both Telugu states combined do not even possess 5 percent of them, the amicus curiae pointed out.
In August 2015, a bench of acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice S V Bhatt had taken up the cause as a PIL after going through media reports that narrated the way fruits in Hyderabad were being ripened and the health hazards they posed. The bench, at that time, had ordered flash raids across AP and Telangana which resulted in carbide seizure from scores of fruit godowns and wholesale fruit markets. Both Telugu states had, at that time, assured the court that they would recruit huge number of food safety officers to improve monitoring at ground level and to curb the use of chemicals in fruit ripening.
