As the summer grips the State, business of ice-manufacturers has picked up pace. However, there is still no proper mechanism in place to nab offenders who make ice from contaminated water.
With the commencement of summer season, hundreds of sugarcane juice vendors, juice vendors, ice ball (chuski) vendors, lime water vendors and others do their business in every corner of the State. These vendors allegedly also get ice from unit which manufactures ice for mortuary in hospitals and preservation of fish and other items.
This ice is made from impure water which is not boiled, filtered or purified. It costs up to 25 percent less than the ice made from purified water as thus; the small vendors prefer to use the sub-standard material putting health of citizens at risk. It is the duty of health officers of Raipur Municipal Corporation and food inspectors to check that the ice manufacturers use water which is filtered through a Reverse Osmosis (RO) process. But there are ice manufacturers who label the ice differently in order to give a slip to the officers. This is a probable health hazard for people of all ages.
"Even if we seize the ice for sampling, it is impossible to track vendors as the results from the laboratories takes a month’s time,” said District Food Officer Dr Ashwani Dewangan. Impractically heavy fine is also one of the reasons that the health officers do not target the small-scale vendors. According to the law, a minimum penalty of Rs 1 lakh to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh and a prison term of 6 months to life term could be imposed on an offender if the ice is found to be made of contaminated water. It is advisable that the citizens stay away from products that they suspect could have been made of sub-standard ice. “Gastrointestinal illness, hepatitis or salmonella or a host of intestinal bugs are some of the health risks involves if a person consumes contaminated ice,” said Dr Pratul Dey.