Faisal Tandel
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Written By: Faisal Tandel | Updated : August 3, 2013 4:53 PM IST
Thane: The ongoing holy month of Ramzan and upcoming Shravan month have increased the demand for fruits in the market. To curb the rising demand, farmers are injecting fruits with chemicals to help them ripen fast and reach the market at the earliest. People have been complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea, dryness in the mouth and stomach ache.
'Fruits that are on demand are water melons, papayas and pineapples. Though seasonal, they are available in the market throughout the year. This clearly means that they are artificially ripened through chemical injections. But due to rains, the fruit gets spoiled, and one's chance of falling sick increases,' says a fruit wholesaler.
The doctors agree that the effects of such fruits can be bad. 'More than 30 patients visit me daily, complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea, dryness in the mouth and giddiness. When we ask them what they ate, they tell us they were fasting the whole day and ate some fruits later. People should buy quality fruits, and avoid non-seasonal fruits. Date is the only fruit which is good and has lots of vitamins,' says Dr Shafique Ahmed, vice president, Kausa Mumbra Doctor Association.
Rehima Shaikh, a resident, says, 'Earlier, we used to bring fruits for Iftar. But we realised that water melon and papaya are unseasonal and spoil during rainy season. Now we have stopped buying fruits, and make snacks at home instead.'
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