Health Dept seizes, destroys spurious jaggery in Hoshiarpur

Sanjiv Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, September 25

Under the guidance of the District Health Officer, a food safety team seized and destroyed spurious inedible jaggery being made from a ‘Velna’ (cane juce expeller) on Tanda road near Dosarka, busting an inter-state racket.

The persons involved in it were from UP and producing spurious jaggery made with harmful chemicals and inedible sugar. The jaggery was then supplied to different parts of Punjab, especially Moga, through traders and agents. Under the supervision of District Health Officer Dr Lakhvir Singh, a large quantity of jaggery, molasses and sugarcane juice was destroyed today. These network operators from UP were making huge profits by selling it in the local market with the help of some traders from Punjab. DHO Dr Lakhvir Singh said, “Toxic dyes and other chemicals which were used in making jaggery were also recovered and destroyed on the spot.”

The DHO said that sugarcane crop is not yet ready in Punjab but the migrant labourers have started making jaggery by adding inferior chemicals and inedible sugar in unripe juice of sugarcane. “According to the environment of Punjab, jaggery can be prepared from ripened sugarcane in the months of November and December at the earliest. When we saw this velna, we were surprised. A large quantity of jaggery was being prepared with chemicals, colours and large quantities of inedible sugar that had dead flies in it.”

The team of the health department destroyed the jaggery lying there. Also, the inedible colour and other chemicals were also destroyed. “When asked about the licence for making jaggery, the velna operator showed a licence which was four years old. We have stopped the functioning of that velna and sealed it. No one would be able to operate it until permission is given by the health department,” said the DHO while talking to this correspondent over the phone.

He said that till sugarcane ripens fully, no velna will be allowed to operate. Legal action will be taken against those found flouting the norms. He also appealed to the farmers not to supply sugarcane to these migrant workers until the crop ripens adequately.