PANJIM, JAN 31
Even though Goa is the only State where sale of gutkha is totally banned, some of the shops in Calangute tinto are doing brisk business selling these packets of banned herbal concoction, thanks to the large number of migrant labourers and youngsters who patronise the area.
A look at the photo published in this paper gives one a fair idea of what the business is like. Goa Shack Owners Welfare Society General Secretary John Lobo said he is witness to gutkha sale on a daily basis and that too in broad daylight.
Lobo mentioned there were some two to three shops close to Sarvesh Café in the area that had all brands of these packets. The fact that gutkha is openly sold gives an indication that the packets continue to enter via the State’s porous checkposts, he stated.
Lobo, who runs a shack business at Baga, said the empty gutkha packets have become a menace as the same are found strewn on the entire beach belt. “It is well-known that gutkha packets are also sold by shopkeepers clandestinely and authorities have to find ways to catch them,” he mentioned.
However, Director of Food and Drugs Administration Salim Veljee said they wait for tips and information to raid shops selling gutkha. “We have conducted raids and the same will continue,” he claimed.
Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOACAN) has been very actively pursuing with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) the clandestine sale of gutkha. Its Secretary Lorna Fernandes narrating through her experiences observed, “The sale of gutkha in Goa is rampant. One of the places I can mention here is the Mapusa market. We have been regularly following with the FDA about this place.”
However, she mentioned, “These vendors have a modus operandi. They stack the gutkha packets in one particular kiosk from where it is supplied as and when demand arises.” We are well-known faces in the area, so whenever these vendors see us they alert the others, she added.
