May 31: Mangoes ripened with the help of chemicals are being sold rampantly in Biratnagar, RSS reported. According to the state-owned news agency of Nepal, traders are selling mangoes that have been treated with chemicals due to the lack of monitoring by the authorities concerned.

The businessmen are selling mangoes in the market ahead of the season in order to make hefty profit.

It has been found that chemicals are used excessively for ripening the mangoes artificially. Traders are picking mangoes from trees before they are ripe and using chemicals.

There can be risk of health hazards if people eat mangoes that have been treated with chemicals. Due to the open border with India, the traders bring raw mangoes into Nepal at cheap price.

They then ripen the mangoes with the help of carbide and sell them in the market, RSS reported.

Doctors say that eating such mangoes is harmful for the health.

Shilpa Nirala Karki, deputy mayor of Biratnagar Metropolitan City, says that it is not allowed to sell and distribute food products laden with chemicals without permission.

She said that regular monitoring of the market could not be done due to the preparation of budget.

"Taking advantage of this situation, it has come to our knowledge that some traders are using chemicals to ripen mangoes," said Karki. She asked everyone not to use chemicals on raw mangoes to sell them.

Digambar Yadav, a soil expert at the Agricultural Business Promotion Support and Training Center in Jhumka, Sunsari, said that some traders were using chemicals to sell mangoes to the market ahead of the season in order to earn excessive profits. He says that such mangoes do not taste good and are not beneficial for health.

Mohammad Islam, the owner of Muskan Fruit Center located in Biratnagar-2, says that some small traders use chemicals on mangoes in order to earn more profit.

Gajendra Yadav, in-charge of Kosi Hospital's emergency department, said that eating mangoes mixed with chemicals can cause diarrhea, itching, and vomiting. According to him, patients with diarrhea, vomiting etc are coming to the hospital daily for treatment since the chemical-laden mangoes are being sold in the market.