Bhubaneswar: A day after Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das ordered raids on fruit vendors in view of encephalitis outbreak in Bihar to check the quality of litchies on sale here, the fruit has nearly disappeared from the market.
The traders across the state have stopped procuring litchis from Muzaffarpur in Bihar – the epicenter of current acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) crisis.
Speaking to reporters on the sideline of ‘district medical officer (CDMO) and public health officers’ (PHOs)’ conference at the state Secretariat here, Das said that he has already asked the Food Safety Commissioners to test the litchi being sold in the market after some reports suggested that the fruit was responsible for the deaths in Bihar.
“I have already asked my department to test the quality of litchis from Bihar. As a result, litchis are not available in the market,” Das said.
Meanwhile, litchi vendors do not want to take chances either.
“While we do have some stock with us, we don’t want to take chances with it. We would rather bear some loss than close the business altogether,” said a trader without wanting to be named.
He further added that while a majority of them source the fruit from West Bengal, given lesser consumer demand and the government overdrive, the rewards for selling litchi is not worth the risk.
