IB probe into salt crisis ordered

SNS & PTI, KOLKATA/ DARJEELING/ KOHIMA, 16 NOV: The state government has ordered a probe by the Intelligence Branch into the recent artificial crisis of salt.

The home department has issued an order in this regard recently. A senior official of the department said rumours of shortage of salt had first spread in Nepal, from where it spread to three districts of north Bihar and then finally reach north Bengal. Assuring people of no such crisis in the state, an official said that Bengal has adequate stock that can last for at least five years.

The government has urged people not to procure and store salt unnecessarily since this will lead to crisis automatically. Police have been instructed to take action against those spreading rumours and hoarding salt.

Rumours of salt shortage has triggered panic in three states namely Bihar, Meghalaya and Bengal leading to a sharp rise in the prices.

Reports of panic buying of salt were received from some areas of Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts in north Bengal.

Assuring that there was no shortage of salt in West Bengal, state Food and Supply Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick today said that its stocks would last for about a year.

“There is no cause for panic. There is sufficient stock of salt. We can meet the need for about one year with our existing stock of salt in the state,” Mallick told reporters after meeting officials in the department.

Mallick said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rang him up to give guidelines on tackling the situation which stemmed from rumours “spread by a section of people with the help of some political parties”.

Stating that his department would submit a report on the situation to the Chief Minister on Tuesday, Mallick said that the state government would initiate a strong action against those responsible for the situation.

Meanwhile, 13 traders have been detained in Darjeeling district for selling salt at exorbitant prices, police sources said today. Eleven traders have been detained in Darjeeling town and two in Kalimpong, the sources said.

The Superintendent of Police of Darjeeling Kunal Agarwal had yesterday met the distributors and retailers to take stock of the situation.

Setting at rest the rumours about acute shortage of salt in Nagaland, the Director of Food and Civil Supplies, Mr Sedevikho Khro said there is enough stock of iodised salt in the state.

A press release issued by Mr Khro today said, following reports of rumours of acute shortage of iodised salt, the officials of Food and Civil Supplies department along with the district administration and the police, conducted physical verification in the godowns of the stockist yesterday and found there was sufficient stock of salt.

He also informed a total of 94,000 kgs of Everyday/Prime I/O Plus brand salt have been distributed among the wholesalers of Dimapur and added, there was still balance of 5 lakh kgs of these brands of iodised salt lying in the godown of the distributors.