Fish is a favourite diet of the Bengalis and a good source of protein, but not cheap any longer. And even those with meager means would like to have fish on his or her plate as often as possible. To poison an easily accessible source of protein is a criminal act of the most unpardonable nature.

What we are not able to rationalize, however, is that it is not that treating fish with formalin is a new phenomenon among the immoral fish traders. The unscrupulous fish merchants have been resorting to this practice for a long time. Many reports on the matter have appeared in the media in the past. One wonders what took the authorities so long to act decisively. We cannot accept the argument that requisite instruments to test the fish were not available so long. When people are going to the moon it seems that lack of chemical testing equipment seems rather a trite argument to offer. It is a legitimate question to ask as to who will pay for the damages done to the people who have been ingesting the very harmful chemical over the years.

We would hope that this would not be a one-off action, that it would be a continuous drive to ensure that those that indulge in such harmful practices are put behind bars. There is no doubt that a strong syndicate is involved in this business. We know too that most of the formalin-treated fish come from a particular country and a particular region of Bangladesh. Thus a constant vigil is the need of the time if the country is to be saved from being slowly poisoned by some of our own people. Action should be taken not only to make people aware of the dangers but also to ensure that all the fish that enter the market all-over the country are free of the chemical. This is a big ask indeed. But for a start why not restrict the sale of formalin or exercise a very stringent oversight on its sale?