In A Poison Slick

SHE didn't know it, but she was effectively poisoning herself and her daughter. When Sushila, a Delhi housewife, noticed last fortnight that both she and her 16-year-old daughter had developed swollen feet, she couldn't understand why this was happening. Within a few days it was too late anyway. Mother and daughter died en route to hospital—a result of having contracted dropsy after consuming the adulterated mustard oil Sushila had been using to cook for her family.

 They are now mere statistical additions to a dropsy epidemic that has enveloped the capital—the official death toll is 23 dead and 750 hospitalised. The epidemic is now feared to have spread to the neighbouring states of UP and Haryana. And West Bengal and Bihar too have reported cases of adulterated oil. In Delhi, residents of the worst-affected localities of west and south Delhi blocked roads and rioted, prompting chief minister Sahib Singh Verma to promise a compensation of Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 for minor and adult dropsy victims.

 The deaths are caused by the adulteration of mustard oil with satya nasi (argemone seeds) which, say experts, releases the toxic compound sanguenrine when crushed with mustard oil. The toxin makes the walls of the body's blood vessels porous. The blood that oozes out collects in the lower limbs, which swell up. And if the infected blood reaches the heart, it is fatal. The warning symptoms: diarrhoea, skin pigmentation, discolouration, abdominal pain and renal failure.

Delhi, Bengal, Bihar and UP have also banned the sale of mustard oil till a quality assurance mechanism is put in place. And in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra the health authorities are on the alert for adulterated mustard oil stocks. The ban came after a Delhi High Court ruling on sale of loose mustard oil, following a PIL filed by advocate B.L. Wadhera. The court asked the Delhi police to file a status report on the epidemic by September 9.

But how efficient are the steps taken by the government? Several shop-keepers in Delhi told Outlook they were selling mustard oil made by reputed brands. Despite the ban, even government outlets like Kendriya Bhandar and Super Bazar were selling mustard oil till August 27—a week after the epidemic had broken out. Raids on oil depots, conducted by Delhi's Prevention of Food Adulteration department (PFA) along with the police, found 45 argemone positive samples out of 187 samples of mustard oil checked. The adulteration, done at illegal factories, was found in Kanodia, Parvati, Laxmi and the government brand Dhara too.

Yet S.K. Sexana, joint director, PFA, plays down the danger: "This isn't the first time adulterated mustard oil has been sold. Five people were affected 15 years ago, when they had adulterated mustard oil. It is difficult to prove the source of adulteration in Delhi which get its essential food items from outside. Anyway, we have launched proceedings against well-known oil merchants and arrests have been made." The police have registered 29 cases so far.

But, asks J.N. Jogi of the Consumer Federation of India: "What was the government doing for six months when no checks or raids were conducted on mustard oil enterprises? This exercise could have averted the tragedy." In defence, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Delhi's health minister, says that between April and July no mustard oil was found adulterated. "It is a fact, which the government is aware of, that mustard oil was being sold at the low price of Rs 34 per kg in Delhi and this isn't possible without adulteration," counters Madan Gupta, a shopkeeper in Kingsway Camp. "A kg of unadulterated mustard oil would sell for about Rs 65."

And that seems to be the crux of the problem. Because mustard oil is one of the cheapest cooking oils, it's used by a vast majority in Delhi—and tight quality control would mean a higher retail price. The Congress alleges that the BJP ignored quality control as it would have pushed up prices in an election year. A charge hotly denied by the CM. The epidemic, he says, is  being tackled on a "war-footing". Then again, the health minister feels the adulteration of mustard oil may be part of a conspiracy to "tarnish the image of the BJP government". And, while the maze of claims and counter-claims goes on, the death toll rises up steadily.