Members of the RAB-6 Satkhira camp have seized 8,000 kg of mangoes of various varieties ripened with harmful chemicals. The mangoes, treated with carbide, were being sent to Dhaka.

The three-hour drive, from 11pm to 2am on Sunday (16 April), was led by Major J M Galib, company commander of RAB-6 Satkhira. The mangoes seized in the Bankal area of the town were crushed under the wheels of a bulldozer.

On Sunday night a company called Joint Transport was taking two truckloads of immature mangoes, ripened with harmful chemicals, from Jiren Gachha in Kaliganj upazila of Satkhira to Dhaka. RAB seized the mangoes near the Bankal truck stand in Satkhira town.

With the help of the district administration, Executive Magistrate Abdullah Al Amin had the mangoes crushed under the bulldozer. Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Monir Hossain and members of the RAB-6 Satkhira camp were present.

Satkhira Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Monir Hossain said harmful chemicals (carbide) had been used on the immature mangoes, which is extremely harmful to the human body.

Major J M Galib said: "We were told that truckloads of immature mangoes ripened with harmful chemicals were being taken from Jiren Gachha in Kaliganj upazila to Dhaka. We set up a checkpoint near the Bankal truck stand and seized 8,000 kg of immature mangoes from two trucks, with an estimated market value of Tk 6.5 lakh."

"Before the mango season has begun, unscrupulous traders hoping for bigger profits have ripened mangoes with chemicals and sold them, sending these immature mangoes to Dhaka. They look ripe from outside, but they are actually immature; raw mangoes have been ripened with chemicals. These mangoes are seriously harmful to the human body," he said, adding that such drives against dishonest traders would continue.

Executive Magistrate Abdullah Al Amin said a meeting on safe mango marketing in Satkhira was held at the district administration's conference room on Sunday afternoon. It set the dates for picking and marketing: Gobindabhog from 12 May, Himsagar from 25 May, Langra from 1 June and Amrapali from 15 June.

He said anyone who picks mangoes before the set time, or markets immature mangoes treated with carbide or chemicals, will face legal action, and this drive was carried out as part of that.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.