Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Mar 26: The court of the the chief civil judge here has restrained the practice of ripening bananas with the help of poisonous chemicals for supply all over the district on a daily basis. This practice was in vogue on Rampura-Kemthoor road in Alevoor village here, where godowns had been built adjacent to residential houses, where raw bananas were brought in trucks and stored on a daily basis and ripened with the help of banned chemicals and carbide for causing bananas to ripen earlier and natural ripening takes longer.

Allegedly, businessmen engaged in banana trade used to turn 10 to 15 loads of raw bananas into ripe ones with the help of chemicals every day. The smoke emanating from these godowns was proving to be hazardous for people residing in nearby areas. Trees in the region wear the look of having been burnt due to fire. The banana so ripened also pose dangerous side affects for public health in the form of slow poisoning, the petitioner had argued.

The process of chemical ripening of bananas was practiced at Rampura in Alevoor since the last three years. Even after the local administration suspended licences and issued warning notices, the activity continued, it is said. A local, M Sharat Kumar, had filed case against this practice in the court here on behalf of the people of the area. The court which upheld his prayer, has ordered the concerned to stop ripening bananas with the help of banned chemical substances including carbide.

Nowadays, insecticides and pesticides are used since the early stages of plants for getting higher yield and protecting the plants from insects and pests. Adding chemicals to them further for ripening can have catastrophic affects on the health of the people, said advocate for the petitioner, H Anand Madiwala.