SHIMOGA: After Supreme Court’s ban on the sale of gutka in plastic sachets from March 1, gutka production companies have discovered an alternative to plastic sachet — paper sachets.
Gutka is available in paper sachet at the market in the city. With this, purchasing of areca produce which had halted after Apex Court’s verdict, is expected to begin. Following the Supreme Court order, Union government had also issued an order to ban the sale of gutka in
plastic sachets.
As a result, areca price had crashed in the market and subsequently, purchasing at APMCs came to a grinding halt. Areca growers were a worried lot due to this development.
The prices are expected to stabilise soon after an alternative to the plastic sachet has been found. Ghodawat Pan Masala Products (India) Private Limited, which manufactures a brand of gutka called ‘Star’, has already introduced the product in paper sachets and is selling it at Rs1.50 per sachet.
Manjunath, a petty shop owner, said that the paper sachets are difficult to preserve for a long time. Consumers will not buy a damaged sachet and hence, it may cause loss to shop owners, he said.
A gutka lover expressed his disappointment, as he said that though Star was introduced in a paper sachet, it is being sold at a price two times higher than the fixed rate.
It might be mentioned that areca growers had staged a series of protests to exert pressure on the Union and the state governments to appeal the Supreme Court to reconsider it’s order, as the ban on plastic sachets had hit them hard.