GUWAHATI: Following the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the Gauhati High Court issued notifications to the Assam Government, Fishery Department, and Food Safety Department to prohibit the sale of formalin-laced fish. Another warning was issued to Nagaon College after they discovered the presence of formalin in imported fish for the first time, and the court also advised the college to produce a report.
A study discovered that eating fish with formalin can cause cancer. The court has ordered the parties involved to provide an affidavit by May 21.
Meanwhile, after Nagaon College's research, the Assam Fishery Department alerted four institutes in the state to perform research and testing of various fish samples for the presence of formalin, as the department lacked suitable preliminary testing facilities.
The four institutes were the Gauhati University Zoology Department, the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, NER, Guwahati, the College of Fisheries, Raha, and the Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati.
A few state research students said that research was done on a few fishes obtained from the local markets of the Nagaon area and samples were taken to inspect in the laboratory, and thus it was proved that formalin is present in imported fish after the research.
Formalin is used in businesses as a disinfecting agent, in some food products as a preservative, and in funeral homes, among other things. This is the state reached when formaldehyde is dissolved in water.
Similarly, after formalin was discovered in imported fish in 2018, the Assam government banned the import and sale of fish from other states for ten days.
Then, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika announced that traces of formalin had been discovered in samples gathered from Guwahati's fish markets.
Hazarika further cautioned that if anyone violates or sells formalin-containing fish in the market, a Rs. 10 lakh punishment will be issued, and they may be put to jail or face legal action.
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