Dehra Dun : Food items being provided along Uttarakhand’s most popular char dham route also happen to be the most adulterated. At least this is what a survey conducted by a Dun-based NGO, Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) found after sampling food items being sold on the route.
Talking to newspersons, SPECS secretary, Brij Mohan Sharma said that between May 25 and August 2, a total of 1186 food samples were collected from 47 sites between Dehra Dun and the char dham shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamnotri and Gangotri, of which 1003 (84 per cent) were found adulterated.
“This is the highest ever percentage of adulteration registered in food items on the route since 2010, when adulteration was recorded at 87 per cent”, he added.
Sharma said that in some places the quality of products, wherever locally sourced was good. However, as one went up from the plains to the hills there was an increase in the number of samples, most of which had been sourced from outside, he claimed.
In Dehra Dun, 85 per cent, Rishikesh 87 per cent, Devprayag 77 per cent, Srinagar 80 per cent, Rudraprayag 85 per cent, Karanprayag 82 per cent, Joshimath 88 per cent, Badrinath 90 per cent, Gopeshwar 91 per cent, Kedarnath 94 per cent, Uttarkashi 85 per cent, , Gangotri 90 per cent and Mussoorie 83 per cent samples were found adulterated.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
