The Food Safety department, Manipur on Saturday destroyed tobacco products worth around Rs 1 lakh in the local market and expired consumable products which were confiscated from different shops located at Ngari Galli, Imphal West.
The products were set ablaze at the campus of the Solid Waste Management Plant, Lamdeng, Imphal West by following the adequate norms and procedures.
The tobacco products were seized during the first raid taken up by the department after reopening of the curfew imposed on the state due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, said designated officer of Food Safety, Imphal West Tekcham Brojendro while speaking to the media.
He said as consumption of smokeless tobacco products leads to 'urge to spit', the central government had restricted selling of smokeless tobacco products during the Covid-19 pandemic as spitting is one of the major means of spreading the virus.
Despite the restriction, many business establishments are selling the tobacco products openly or in clandestine manner across the state, he added.
Moreover, consumption of tobacco products also leads to cancer and other health hazards, he said, adding that the department will continue to take up the drive against tobacco regularly to make a healthy society.
Brojendro informed that the tobacco products which were destroyed on Saturday are worth around Rs 50,000 as per MRP, however, it will be worth around Rs 1 lakh in the local market.
Stating that around Rs 40,000 has been imposed on the shops for selling those tobacco products, the designated officer warned, "shop license will be cancelled for repeated offenders."
