A day after the Centre declared hand sanitiser and face masks as essential commodities, a district administration team on Saturday, March 14, sealed an unlicensed unit in Noida’s Sector 63 where fake hand sanitisers were being manufactured.
According to anIndia Todayreport, the officials found more than 10,000 bottles of such sanitisers at the site, along with inferior-quality masks.
Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, a complaint was filed at the Phase 3 police station and four people were arrested in connection with the incident.
After a sudden spike in the number of cases in India, there has been a severe shortage of masks and hand sanitisers. Driven by panic, many citizens are also hoarding these essentials. Utilising the shortage of these products, several fake factories such as the one in Noida, have sprung up across the country.
“A large quantity of fake sanitisers has been seized. We will ensure that law takes its due course over any irregularity related to it,” BN Singh, District Magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar was quoted in the media.
On Thursday, the Haryana Food and Drug Administration had busted a fake hand sanitizer manufacturing company and seized at least 5,000 hand sanitisers at Udyog Vihar in Gurugram.
According to Senior Drug Controller Gurugram- Ripan Mehta, the company was manufacturing industrial oils and had just started manufacturing hand sanitisers.
Fake sanitisers are also dangerous as these have side-effects on the human skin.
“People are using sanitisers to clean their hands when they cannot use soap and water. Also, a large amount of sanitisers are being used to sanitise public places. But if the sanitisers are fake or don’t have the efficiency, it will be harmful. You never know which chemicals have been used in them,” said Dr. Bobby Balotra, Pulmonologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told the media.