Other States - Uttar Pradesh   

Ban on colas if all parties agree, says Mulayam

Special Correspondent

Speaker's directive to Govt. on dengue outbreak

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Wednesday that if a unanimous proposal were passed in the Vidhan Sabha his Government would consider placing a ban on sale of aerated drinks like Coke and Pepsi.

"The Samajwadi Party has always opposed the sale of Pepsi, Coke, etc., and has in the past raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha'', Mr. Yadav said in response to a query during question hour in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The Chief Minister said emphasis should be on the sale of fruit juices.

Stating that the use of aerated drinks should be curtailed, the Chief Minister attacked the United States of America for playing with the health of Indians. He said in the US sale of soft drinks was not allowed.

"The multi-national corporations (MNCs) wield considerable clout in the country and a collective approach cutting across party lines is needed to tackle the issue of ban."

The Chief Minister said he would hold discussions with the traders' organisations and their representatives to work out the modalities if the need arose to ban the sale of soft drinks.

Mr. Yadav said tests conducted by a Delhi-based laboratory had found pesticides content beyond the permissible limit in samples of Coke and other soft drinks.

When the members wanted to know what measures had been taken by the State Government to test the pesticide content in the aerated drinks, Mr. Yadav in his written reply said that due to the absence of cool drinks testing facility in the State Forensic Science Laboratory there was no authentic information on the subject.

However, Mr. Yadav added that the State Government had initiated the inspection of stocks with the dealers and collection of samples. Since the Centre was already seized of the issue the State would take action according to law against soft drinks companies once it gets a go-ahead from the Centre, the Chief Minister said in his reply.

The Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Mata Prasad Pandey, directed the Government to keep a close watch on the outbreak on dengue and chikungunya. Mr Pandey said all the necessary precautions should be taken and it should be ensured that the disease does not spread to the rural areas where there is a shortage of life-saving drugs.

The issue of dengue and chikungunya was raised in the House during zero hour. Mr. Pramod Tiwari of the Congress said 259 people in 32 districts had died due to the disease and the situation had aggravated on account of shortage of life-saving drugs in government hospitals.

Mr. Tiwari suggested that a general awareness campaign be launched to educate the people on the precautionary measures. Laxmikant Bajpai (BJP) expressed concern that in the rural areas the affected persons had no option but to consult the quacks. In his reply, Revenue Minister Ambika Chaudhary said there was no need to create a panic as the 250-odd deaths so far did not mean there was an epidemic-like situation.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Ban on colas if all parties agree, says Mulayam

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu