ASSAM: POST-BAN ON IMPORTED FISH, PRICES OF LOCAL FISH GO UP IN ASSAM

14 July 2018:

With fish markets in Assam drying up consequent upon the ban on imported fish by the state government, a section of unscrupulous traders in Guwahati has arbitrarily hiked the prices of local fish varieties.

A number of fish markets in the city, which otherwise teem with customers, wore a deserted look on Saturday. The Sarbananda Sonowal government imposed the ban after imported fish was found to be formalin-laced which keeps fish fresh for days together.

The soaring prices have left the citizens in a high and dry. As such, many regular buyers have started eating less.

“I am a great lover of fish but I am eating less. The prices have gone up so much that I cannot afford to buy fish regularly,” said S Mazumdar.

However, another consumer, H Sarma, told INSIDENE that it was obvious that the prices would go up with the rise in demand. “I am not surprised at all. They (fish sellers) will take that much of an advantage,” he said.

Prior to the ban, a kg of local Rohu (small varieties) was sold at Rs.200. Now, it has shot up to Rs.400 a kg. Local prawn, which was around Rs.800 a kg, was being sold at Rs.1,400 a kg on Saturday.

The ban will continue till July 20 and till such time, the customers are unlikely to get any respite.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters, government officers and retailers from Andhra Pradesh, from where fish is mostly imported, denied the presence of formalin in imported fish. Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika said the ban would continue till July 20. That the imported fishes were formalin-laced was evident during examinations by experts, he said.