the goan I network
PANAJI
Days after fishing communities from across the border in Karnataka, who have for years depended on Goa markets for their business, demanded lifting of the ban on fish imports imposed by the State government, MPs and MLAs from the neighbouring State are expected to meet Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday.
A delegation of MLAs and fishing community leaders led by BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel is expected to meet Rane to demand lifting of the fish import ban imposed by the Public Health Department following the protracted formalin-in-fish imbroglio.
Karnataka’s Revenue Minister, R V Deshpande, who incidentally is a son-in-law of Goa, also issued a statement denying that the fishing community for North Karnataka which exports its catch to Goa does not use any chemical preservative as transportation time is low.
He has also urged the Goa government to revisit its decision on banning the import of fish and relax the stringent norms imposed following the raging formalin-in-fish controversy.
The order banning the import of fish into Goa was notified in the official gazette in early November by the Public Health Department headed by Rane. The order, however, made exception for those importers who had complied by the conditions laid down by Food Safety and Standards Act for transportation of food.
While these conditions are acceptable to high-end transporters who supply to Goa’s starred hotels and other tourism industry outlets, they are economically unviable for fishing communities and traders hailing from areas close to the Goa-Karnataka border.
Rane meanwhile has said there was no question of any compromise on fish import ban but has indicated that modalities to help smaller communities who are dependent on fishing for their livelihood from regions close to the Goa-Karnataka border could be considered.
Chaos has reigned in the local fish markets in Goa ever since a raid by a team of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on transportaion trucks arriving from across the border to the Margao Wholesale Market on July 12 triggered a scare of use of
formalin for preserving the fish.
A series of flip-flops by the State administration on the issue over the next several weeks only added to the confusion in the minds of the average Goan over safety of the fish sold in local markets.
