Sikkim horticultural department Wednesday buried the inorganic vegetables seized recently from different shops at Lall Bazaar in Gangtok. The vegetables were brought from Siliguri. The banned vegetables were buried in the horticulture department farm premises in Majhitar in East Sikkim.
Sikkim government has imposed a ban on the import of some listed vegetables and fruits from outside the state.
In the recent raid at Lall Bazaar in Gangtok, agriculture and horticulture department officials have seized huge amount of vegetables brought from the Siliguri which fall under the restricted list. Around 10 metric tonnes of vegetables amounting to around Rs 2.5 lakhs have been buried in the horticulture department farm premises in the presence of the departmental officials.
Sikkim National People’s Party on April 5 demanded the state government to immediately roll back the ban on vegetables from outside the state as the local production of vegetables is not sufficient to feed the local people and visiting tourists in the state. The party alleged the organic mission is more of propaganda aimed at getting awards and to inflate the ego of one individual than a reality which can be acted upon.
The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) party on April 10 urged the state government to roll back the recent import ban of inorganic vegetables. The Morcha has alleged that the state government has imposed the ban without really assessing the stock and supply capacity of the organic vegetables in the State.
Sikkim government on April 8 lifted the ban on supply of non-organically grown carrot, tomato and green chilly from outside the state due to acute shortage of these commodities in the domestic market
The state government imposed ban on the sale and consumption of 27 non-organically grown agricultural and horticultural commodities comprising vegetables, fruits, spices with effect from April 1 so that people consume only organic items.