Earlier, the Assam fisheries department had directed four institutions to carry out extensive investigation and analysis into whether formalin was present in imported fish.
Digital Desk: After hearing
public interest litigation (PIL) over the presence of toxic formalin in imported (chalani) fish in Assam, the Gauhati High Court handed notifications to the interested parties.
The sale of imported fish with formalin was requested to ban in a PIL filed with the Gauhati High Court, and after the court heard it, it notified the state government, the fishery department, and the food safety departments.
In addition, the court informed Nagaon College of the situation and requested that it submit a report with details regarding it. The presence of toxic formalin in imported fish was initially discovered by Nagaon College, who thereafter made this discovery.
It should be noted that eating fish that contains formalin has been associated with an increased risk of cancer in humans. The court has ordered the parties involved to provide an affidavit concerning the subject by May 21.
Earlier, the Assam fisheries department had invited four local institutions to carry out extensive investigation and analysis into whether formalin was present in imported fish.
Parimal Suklabaidya, the minister of fisheries, gave the order in light of the recent development.
The four institutions were the
Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, ICAR, NER, Guwahati; the College of Fisheries, Raha; the Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati; and the Zoology Department, Gauhati University.
An official announcement stated that the institutes had been requested to submit a report to the Director of Fisheries following the study and many tests of various fish samples.
The state fishery agency had previously claimed that it lacked the necessary infrastructure to carry out initial testing to find formalin in imported fish. This is why, according to a source, the department in question has not yet tested imported fish for formalin in Guwahati.
In a news conference, a group of college research students said that they had collected samples from numerous local fish markets across the area and thoroughly studied each sample at both the nearby lab and the lab in Guwahati. The research team received confirmation that the toxic chemical was present in fish sold in markets at this time.
As a preservative in various food items, an industrial disinfectant, and in funeral homes, among other uses, formalin is utilised. When formaldehyde is dissolved in water, the condition is attained.
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