HUGE CHANCE OF CONTAMINATION IN SANKRANTI RICE POWDER AT SILIGURI

By R. Subrata (TNI Siliguri) ~ Edited By Pradiptamay Saha (TNI Siliguri)

Webdesk, TNI Siliguri, 15th January, 2015: Poush Sankranti is celebrated as a very important festival in India. Sankranti literally means “commencement of movement.” Sankranti means transit of Sun from one zodiac sign to other. Pous Sankranti has deep spiritual significance and is rooted in an unshakable divine history. Poush Sankranti is being celebrated in Siliguri on Tuesday. The sweet shops throughout the city are flooded with the Bengali delicacies such as ‘patisapta,’ ‘muger puli’ and ‘notun gurer payesh’ etc. In earlier years those were the trademarks for the Bengali grand moms and moms in their heinshels (Kitchen). However, for the last few years traditional dhenki (Crude grain crushing device) were seen in open market where the women were seen crushing the paddy for making paddy powder, which remains the main ingredient for pitha and pulis of Poush Sankranti. The rice powder is sold at Rs 80-90 per kg. The demand for milk and rice powder which are used as raw materials for the confectioneries, was quite high all day. Other ingredients including coconut and jaggery were also available at relatively higher prices. In such a celebration spree the most disturbing fact which came in front is that, the rice powder which are being made are being carried out in the open polluted road side and market places of the city. Such incidents are seen in the city markets like Bidhan Market, Mahabirsthan, Subhashpally, Fuleshwari, Haiderpara Bazaar and so on. There is a huge chance of contamination of the germs and dirt from the hugely busy roadsides, which ultimately is being consumed by the people especially the children. Last week, there was drive by the SMC for quality check of roadside food stalls. However, those are missing in these cases. Questions can be raised against the absence of food quality checks for such seasonal makeshift food stalls which may bring havoc contamination among the Siligurians.

Photo: Dhruvajyoti Roy (Siliguri)