30 tonnes of rice seized; dealer found using deadly pesticide

Food safety authorities on Thursday initiated action against a wholesale rice dealer in Ettumanoor for allegedly using high-dose chemicals in their rice godown.

KOTTAYAM: Food safety authorities on Thursday initiated action against a wholesale rice dealer in Ettumanoor for allegedly using high-dose chemicals in their rice godown. The authorities have sealed the five godowns of Kochupurakkal Traders and took nearly 3,000 quintals (30 tonnes) of rice into custody on suspicion that aluminium phosphide (Celphos) was used without following the mandatory procedures.

The malpractice came to light after a few head-load workers in a retail shop of the dealer in Ettumanoor, who were unloading the rice sacks brought from an Athirampuzha godown, also owned by the dealer, developed uneasiness and were hospitalised. In an inspection by other workers, a few empty packets of aluminium phosphide were found along with the rice sacks.

Unnikrishnan Nair P, assistant commissioner of food safety, Kottayam, said aluminum phosphide is used commonly to fumigate rice mill godowns to kill pests. “There are some procedures to be followed while using the chemical in godowns. We suspect they were not followed in this instance,” he said.

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