JOIN USFor the sake of Taj, petha makers told to shift elsewhere
Agra’s traditional ‘petha’ — sweet ash gourd — industry is in trouble, a victim of the battle against pollution to save the Taj Mahal.
For the past four days petha units have their shutters down. They have been protesting the action of the authorities and the state pollution control board who are sealing some units and issuing orders to others to shift to Petha Nagri in Kalindi Vihar across the Yamuna.
At the heart of the controversy is the administration’s renewed effort to shift polluting units out of Agra.
Agra development authority has developed a “Petha Nagri” and allotted plots to the units, but officials say the manufacturers are not keen on shifting.
‘High-handed tactics’
The petha unit owners say officials are using “high-handed tactics” to extract bribes. "Because we have stopped giving them bribes, they have begun to act against us,” a protester said.
The petha units have been found using coal, which the Supreme Court had banned in 1996.
More than 500 petha units, employing over 50,000 workers, manufacture tonnes of petha each day.
Low on fat
Rarely do visitors to this city fail to pick up a packet or two of this sweet. Nutritionists say although high in sugar, the sweet candy is nourishing, cheap, and low on fat.
The raw material for petha, the gourd, is brought from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and elsewhere.
In recent years, petha makers have experimented with new flavours, sizes and colours, besides attractive packing.
Now there are sandwich pethas, kesar, khas, orange, pineapple, coconut and other varieties.
A source said there was a special petha that served as an aphrodisiac. Diabetics have a sugar-free version as well.