The port city Mangalore experienced 40 Celsius this summer. This was the highest temperature ever recorded in the history of the Costal Belt. Many people tried to quench their thirst by opting for roadside golas, sugarcane juice and other ice related delicacies. Definitely, these are effective heat beaters.
However, before enjoying your cold delicacies, think again! If you have been eyeing on the ice used in the roadside Popsicles and ice dipped in your heart slaking drink, an ugly truth comes forward . This mere refreshment can land you up into immense trouble.
NewsKarnataka has learnt that a lot of unhygienic and unsterilized water, formed into Ice, is being used around the city, for consumption and domestication.
While Mangalore has been facing a rise in water borne diseases like jaundice, the civic bodies are trying to create awareness and precaution. Nevertheless, the situation does not seem to change with regards to the consumption of hygienic liquid.
To study the issue in detail NewsKarnataka made sure to discover the exact way the Ice is made. A visit was paid to both commercial ice factory as well as a domestic Ice factory. However, three categories of ice production came to light.
The first one is Salt Water Ice factory, which is solely used for fish storage purposes; the second one Bore well water Ice factory, which is used for storage as well as for drinking purposes, as claimed by some of the factory workers and the last one is mineral drinking water ice factory.
In a commercialized Ice factory it was learnt that, Ice is being made by using the well/bore well water, which is filled in Gallium box. Then 1200 density of salt water is made to flow through the ammonium coils and the Gallium boxes. This ice is generally meant for preservation purpose.
The process is same with the Salt Water Ice factory and Bore well water Ice factory. Some of the earlier media reports also claim that Gallium is the same metal that is used to keep bodies in the morgues.
Factories supply ice to whoever demands it. However, some dealers sell the same ice to shop vendors claiming it to be consumable ice. As these ice slabs are sold at a cheaper cost, the vendors prefer to buy it.
When inquired about domestic ice manufacturing unit, it was learnt that there are few industries in the city that make consumable ice. However, the sale of consumable ice in comparison to commercial ice is less, as the cost differences between both types of ice are high.
An ice made for commercial purpose is sold at Rs 40 to Rs 50 per slab which is almost around 50 kg. However, sterilized water ice cubes are sold at Rs 10 to Rs 16 per kg. Therefore, to lower thecost of production of cold delicacies, vendor prefers to go for cheaper commercial ice, compromising with the quality.
Trying to understand the other side of the story, NewsKarnataka questioned several vendors.
There are 100’s of vendors around the city selling ice golas or drinks mixed with ice. Most of these makeshift stall owners neither have a license nor are they registered with the Food Safety and Drug Administration. They are also not aware about food safety guidelines. However, they pay a nominal charge to the corporation for the usage of the space, according to the sources.
“I get around 50 to 60 orders a day during season”, claims a local sugarcane juice vendor.
He said that he gets a half ice slab per day for Rs 50 from a dealer, who gets it from a plant in Pandeshwar. Despite being aware about the differences between commercially and domestically used ice, vendor did not bother much about it. What would be the result of such negligence?
According to Dr Narsimha Hegde the unit head of general medicine at Father Muller’s Hospital, the rise in diarrhea diseases in Mangalore is due to the poor public management.
Speaking to NewsKarnataka he said, “The water which is not meant for drinking purposes is used indiscriminately. It is a major health issue and the civic bodies need to address it, he asserted.
With reference to the use of ammonium coil, the doctor said that there may be a tendency of developing hyper ammonium due to the high consumption of ice. In addition to this, ice is freezed in rusted gallium boxes, which is hazardous.
He concluded by saying that, it is better if such ice is not used for consumption purpose.
Thus, who is to be blamed? Whether the Ice factory, the dealers, the shop vendors or the one who consumes it. The issue is still a riddle.
When Newskarnataka asked the same question to the Minister for health and family welfare U T Khadar, he said, “It is the responsibility of the entire society, if I do not do my work properly and blame it on some else, he in turn will blame it on another person and thus the “blame game” goes on. Thus everyone is responsible.”
However he asserted that the Civic bodies have more rights and exceptional responsibility. Thus they need to be vigilant and take action. As civic bodies are autonomous, Khader claimed that, “They have exclusive rights which can be enforced and such vendors can be locked up.”
Nevertheless assuring to address the situation he said, “We will take steps to strengthen the FoodSafety Act as well.”
Dr Manjayya Shetty, Health Officer at MCCgave a personal opinion, saying that commercial Ice factories do not take care of the sanitization process, during the production of such ice, hence, it must not be consumed.
With regards to the Trade license, he stated that street vendors have no license or an authority to inspect. He said, “Their business is illegal, but as some of the street vendors have recently got an approval to continue their business from the Supreme Court; hence, one cannot evacuate them.” Irrespective of the evacuation, assured that measures will be taken.
He said, “As an Heath officer I will make sure that I look into the matter and take charge of it, I will make sure that correction is determined.”
Nevertheless, only time will tell if corrections are made, only time will tell if a child will be able to cherish an ice candy with complete well being.
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