HYDERABAD: Expressing displeasure with the casual attitude of the concerned authorities to check adulteration of food items, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the chief secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to inform about the steps taken to curb the rampant food adulteration and usage of calcium carbide chemical for artificial ripening of fruits in their respective states and to submit the same before it by Jan 23 next year.
The bench was dealing with a PIL case which was taken up suo moto based on a news item published in a vernacular daily in 2015 on rampant usage of calcium carbide chemical for artificial ripening of fruits in AP and Telangana.When the matter came up for hearing, senior counsel S Niranjan Reddy, told the court that no concrete steps were taken by both the state governments on the issue. Taking these submissions into consideration, the bench directed the chief secretaries of both states to come up with concrete action plan and to submit the same before the court.