Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Monday told both the governments of AP and Telangana to set up cells for receiving complaints and related information from people regarding fruits ripened artificially with chemicals like carbide. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice P. Naveen Rao gave the order while dealing with a taken up PIL based on news reports.
The bench asked both the states to focus on short-term, medium and long-term measures to overcome the problem of artificial ripening of fruits by vendors. Mr A. Sanjeev Kumar, the counsel for TS, told the court that the TS government had already taken steps for the establishment of an ethylene chamber at the Gaddiannaram fruit market in the city and at Warangal and Jagtial market yards.
He said that smartphones also were provided to food safety officers for receiving complaints from consumers. Mr P. Venugopal, the advocate general of AP, submitted a report to the court explaining the steps being taken to prevent the artificial ripening of fruits across the state.
Both governments assured the court that they are ready to implement directions made by the court through the amicus curie in the case to eradicate the menace of artificial fruit ripening. The bench told the government counsels to ensure that the authorities take immediate steps for implementing short and medium-term measures as the mango season is approaching. While posting the matter to April 25 the bench directed both the governments to continue their efforts to prevent the artificial ripening of fruits.
