Tea adulteration: Ryots for tough action on offenders

Ooty: Seizure of adulterants, meant for mixing in made tea, on the Nilgiris border and the delay in fixing the offenders has caused unrest amongst the farming community here as the farmers association in the hills want transparent investigation into this incident and also want the district administration to invoke the Goondas Act against the offenders.

Police on duty at the check-post in the Kunjapannai area in the Kotagiri sector on the Nilgiris-Coimbatore border a couple of days ago found a truck carrying a few bags of a tea-like product. As the crew in the truck failed to give satisfactory answers, police referred the matter to the concerned officials. Officials from the Tea Board who arrived, found, upon preliminary enquiry, that five tonnes of tea adulterants were loaded in the bags. Officials seized the truck which was said to be proceeding from Mysuru to Kotagiri and asked the truck crew to appear for an enquiry.

Mr.Thumboor Bhojan, president of the Hill District Small Growers Welfare Association, charged that the Tea Board was delaying investigation and had failed to fix the culprits. Transparency was lacking in their investigation, he alleged.

He added that when small tea farmers in Nilgiris were struggling to realize a remunerative price for the green tea leaf they produce, this attempt to adulterate Nilgiri tea would further bring down its quality and price in the auction.  Since food adulteration is a serious crime, the district administration should instruct food safety wing officials to enquire and invoke the Goondas Act against the offenders as this would create  fear among those indulge in adulteration, he noted.