Something fishy relating to this ‘Padma’ hilsa?

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As downpour intensifies, city gourmets throng the fish markets looking for hilsa from Bangladesh. However when they return home in mirth, assuming that the hilsa within their bags are from Padma, they are mistaken.

It's been caught not definately not their homes, surely not in the rivers of our neighbours, Bangladesh.

The sleight happens because of the straining vocals of the fishmongers who proclaim their wares are netted in Bangladeshi waters.

The duping game recurs yearly with the buyers spending money on what they consider to be the ‘real stuff’.

“It really is anybody’s guess whether it's from Diamond Harbour or Kolaghat, or Irrawaddy river in Myanmar,” West Bengal United Fishermen’s Association, Bijan Maity said.

The cost of hilsa varies between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per kg.

Alternatively, the cost of hilsa from Bangladesh swings between Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,200 each kg.

The difference points to the quality of the hilsa available just beyond the Indian waters. One wonders how hilsa from Bangladesh finds its way into India. In the end, Bangladesh has clamped a ban on Hilda export since 2012, lifted it briefly this past year to reimpose it. But a halt in free trade has boosted smuggling.

“Bongaon, Basirhat, Jangipur in South Bengal and Coochbehar and Dinajpur (south) in North Bengal being a few of the better- known points where cartons of hilsa from the other side of the border find its way into India sans any customs duty,” a senior Border Security Force officer said.
Source: https://www.thestatesman.com

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