Berhampur: Even as seven years have passed since the state government banned the sale, and manufacture of gutkha and paan masala products from January 2013, there is no letup in the illegal trade in Silk City which has turned into a hub of the banned products, a report said.
The state government following in the footsteps of 17 other Indian states and Union territories banned chewing tobacco on health grounds in January 2013. The ban came after Supreme Court of India and various High Courts earlier directed the state governments to impose ban as the nicotine contained in chewing masalas caused fatal diseases like cancer, official sources said.
According to reports, the state has a large number of chewing-tobacco consumers. A report by Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) states: more than 43 per cent of the population in Odisha consumes chewing tobacco in one form or other. The state also has high cancer incidence which can be attributed to tobacco consumption. Over 10,000 new oral cancer patients are admitted to hospitals every year in the state.
Moreover, the post of district food security inspector has been lying vacant for the last two years which has made the task of these unscrupulous traders all the more easier.
The youths, in particular, have become easy prey for these products due to its open sale all over the state.
Earlier, the state government was earning huge revenue from its sale and manufacturing but lost it after the ban came into force. It was then expected that the ban would help stop the sale and manufacturing of gutkha products but that never became a reality as manufacturing and sale of the product goes on unabated in the city and its outskirts.
Several units were found to have mushroomed all over the city and outskirts which transport the products for sale in and outside of the state.
The huge cache of gutkha products seized recently by Government Railway Police from Berhampur railway station is a case in this point. Earlier, Bada Bazaar police, Gosaninuagaon police, Baidyanathpur police and Sadar police in Silk City have made huge seizures of gutkha products and arrested several persons in this connection.
However, the crackdowns have failed to deter the manufacturing and sale of these products in the district. Observers apprehend that the gutkha trade is thriving in the city in connivance with influential political persons, administrative officials and police in exchange of huge kickbacks.
When contacted, the chief district medical officer (CDMO) Bijay Kumar Panigrahi said the district administration has written three to four times to the state government demanding appointment of a full-time food security officer following which Smita Khadanga, who is posted in Gajapati, has been temporarily given the charge of Ganjam.
SDPO Bishnu Prasad Pati said that police is keeping a hawk’s eye on the illegal gutkha trade and will raid the units whenever they will receive any tip-off.