Mumbai: Banned 10 years ago, gutkha, pan masala still easily available

The ban on gutkha and pan masala has failed to impact the market Buying these harmful products is a cakewalk with most pan shops having sizable stock Earlier after the ban was first implemented in 2012 and thereafter in 2019 shopkeepers would only sell these to regular customers But as the intensity of checks have since gone down people trade in these products openly midday found during its test drive on banned productsFor the third and final part of the series on banned items available in the city midday visited pan shops and roadside stalls in different parts of the city and inquired about gutkha and pan masala This correspondent also inquired about loose cigarettes which was also banned in September 2020 and found it was available just as easilyAlso read Mumbai shops openly sell vapes ecigarettes despite nationwide ban since 2019No fear among sellersThe midday team first visited a pan shop at Jambli Galli in Borivli West and asked for gutkha The seller promptly responded ldquoDo you want the small packet or the big onerdquo He showed two packets saying the small one was for Rs 25 while the big one was Rs 50 The correspondent bought a small packet and moved on to other shopsThe scene was the same in the nearby shops so the team moved to south Mumbai The situation was even worse here at Crawford Market where a teenager aged around 1718 was selling these productsAs part of the test drive middayrsquos Suraj Pandey buys a packet of gutkha in Borivli PicsAnurag AhireWhen asked the types and brands of gutkha he said ldquoWe have all top brands Manikchand Sikhar Vimal and other brands toordquo The team bought 4 sachets of Manikchand priced at Rs 10 each As part of the test drive this correspondent also purchased a single cigarette from a shop in Borivli West just 20 metres away from the railway station ticket counterWherever we went we found that none of these shopkeepers feared stocking these banned products nor were they making any efforts to hide anything They were running their business openly Most of the shopkeepers added that even buyers donrsquot have qualms about shelling out more for the sameRegulations over the yearsConsumption of gutkha and pan masala or other tobacco products lead to cancer and other diseases Many NGOs and doctors have raised their voices to ban such harmful products citing their effects on the health and wellness of peopleGiven the health risks associated with these the Maharashtra government first prohibited consumption production sale distribution and storage of gutkha pan masala and related products in 2012 This prohibition was further extended in 2019 The state police as well as the Food and Drug Administration have the authority to conduct raids and seize such itemsThe state government has made two significant decisions in the past few years addressing cases related to banned tobacco products Depending on the seriousness of the case Section 328 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with administering or causing to administer hazardous substances is invoked The government also mandated that in cases of racketeers dealing with large quantities of these banned items law enforcing agencies can add the strict Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act too According to officials the fact that there is still a supply of gutkha implies two thingsmdashthat there is a market for it and that there are a number of openings at the statersquos border through which trucks carrying these products from states that have no such restrictions can passFurther as per a notification issued on September 24 2020 the state public health department has imposed a complete ban on the sale of singlestick or loose cigarettes and beedis The decision is in sync with subsection 2 of section 7 of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 The move is aimed at ensuring that customers see the graphic health warnings mandated on cigarette packagingImpact of tobaccoAccording to the 201617 Global Adult Tobacco Survey every fourth youth in Maharashtra consumes tobacco As per the data provided by the Directorate of Health and Services from 2016 to March 2022 around 10 lakh patients with history of tobacco consumption have been registered in hospitals and centresPadma Shri Dr Ramakant Deshpande a surgical oncologist at Asian Cancer Institute said ldquoI donrsquot understand why people are buying a whole lifersquos misery just for a few hours of pleasure Chewing gutkha or any form of smoking be it normal tobacco cigarettes or ecigarettes causes cancer It also damages the heart There should be strict implementation of the law If the banned products are available in the market then government agencies are lagging or have left loose ends There should be severe punishments for those who are violating the lawrdquoRecent raids and crackdownsNovember 2022 Kalamboli police arrested a 24yearold man from Roadpali and seized gutkha and flavoured pan masala worth R171 lakh The accused was a supplier to retailersAugust 2022 The AntiNarcotics Cell seized banned gutkha and tobacco products worth Rs 893 lakh from a shop in Taloja Navi MumbaiMarch 2022 Begampura police in Aurangabad seized banned pan masala and tobacco products worth Rs 18 lakh from two peopleMarch 2021 In a rare conviction under the Food Safety and Standards Act a 34yearold Maladbased shopkeeper was sentenced to six monthsrsquo imprisonment and fined Rs 50000 after large quantities of gutkha was recovered from his storeFebruary 2021 Police seized banned gutkha worth R1143 lakh from a truck in Virar25Percentage of youth in state who consume tobacco as per Global Adult Tobacco Survey 201617