Amidst the reports of 15 percent poisonous formalin which has been found in fish imported from outside Assam to the local fish markets of Nagaon, it has come to the fore that the state fishery department does not have adequate facilities to conduct preliminary testing to detect formalin in imported fishes.

For this reason, the said department has not yet conducted formalin testing on imported fish in Guwahati city, a source said.

The source also informed that the department had already approached the zoology department at Gauhati University and held a meeting in this regard.

Meanwhile, during a media interaction, one of the fish sellers in Bongaigaon’s Boro Bazar claimed that no formalin has been used in fish imported from outside Assam.

He said, “We import fish from Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. It takes three days to reach Assam and gets sold out within just two days. The fish can be stored for five to six days in ice. The last test by the fishery department was conducted two years back and no formalin was found in fish.”

Earlier, in a press conference issued by a group of research students of the Department of Biology, Nowgong College (autonomous) it was said that the students collected samples from various local fish markets across the district and examined all the samples in all aspects at the local laboratory as well as the laboratory in Guwahati. During this, the research team got confirmation about the presence of that poisonous substance in fish available on the market.

Note: Formalin is used as a disinfectant in industries, a preservative in some food products, funeral homes etc. It attains the state when formaldehyde is dissolved in water.