Despite prompt bans and reports of seizures, banned tobacco and other addictive products continue to be widely available
The Tamil Nadu government banned the sale of gutkha and pan masala as early as in 2001, but the measure was bogged down in litigation.
Then invoking the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Commissioner of Food Safety of the State of Tamil Nadu issued orders prohibiting the manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of gutkha and and pan masala and any other food products containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients, by whatsoever name it is available in the market, in the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu for one year.
Since then, the ban has been extended through notifications time and again.
Even as enforcement agencies have been cracking down on hubs in the city, the sale is continuing without any interruption.
Here, there, everywhere
A quick survey by The Hindu showed that the banned tobacco products are available across the counter in petty shops all over Chennai.
Gutkha sachets can be bought like candy from shops just outside the Police Commissioner’s office, the Madras High Court, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Egmore and campuses of government offices.
From Neelangarai up to Tiruvanmiyur, street vendors and petty shops proudly display the array of sachets selling banned tobacco products. A shopkeeper in Tiruvallur Salai, Tiruvanmiyur, said, “There is a huge demand for these products because of the increase in migrant labourers. We receive supply from north Chennai and are getting substantial profits from the sale.”
Near educational institutions
Things are not different near educational institutions. For instance, tobacco products are on sale near the entrance of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Multiple raids have not deterred traders from stocking such banned tobacco products in the city.
Reports of arrests
On Thursday, a police press release, listing that day’s developments, said a special team under Pallikaranai Inspector arrested Neeraj Shukla, 21, of Nanmangalam for possessing banned products — ‘mava’ weighing 2kg. Vepery police nabbed a person who was selling Hans near a school on Bricklin Road, besides seizing banned products. Vignesh was caught with ‘mava’ in Koyambedu and Madhan Kumar of Jafferkhanpet was arrested with 20 packs of Hans. T.P. Chatram police held three persons who were in possession of 10 kg of mava.
A senior police officer on condition of anonymity said in most cases, manufacturers and stockists were let off with a fine and a few days in jail. The banned products are either locally produced or transported from other States. Sowcarpet and other adjoining areas are the hubs for the products. Police also received information some time ago that products were being smuggled into the city through container lorries and then distributed.
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