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Vegetable vendors in Bhopal trick buyers using coloured lights

Vendors in vegetable market in Bhopal are using lights of different colours to trick the buyers into believing that their vegetables and fruits are fresh and pollution free.

Updated on: Nov 26, 2014, 16:50:17 IST
Hindustan Times | By , Bhopal
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Vendors in vegetable market in Bhopal are using lights of different colours to trick the buyers into believing that their vegetables and fruits are fresh and pollution free.

HT Image
HT Image

The vendors who deceive the consumers use green light for vegetables, so that fading colour of vegetables kept for several days could be hidden. Similarly, they use red or yellow lights to sell days-old fruits.

The buyers realise the trick when they reach home.

A buyer Suman Tiwari (38), a resident of Chunbhatti said, “Winter is the season of green leafy vegetables like spinach and methi. When I used to purchase vegetables from the market, they looked fresh but once I reached home, I found they were of poor quality. Since, I underwent this experience several times, now I am careful.”

Vendors also use this trick to sell raw fruits. “I purchased raw bananas several times. I got tricked due to the yellow light at the shops.”

When HT asked Shakir, a vegetable vendor of Bittan Market, about this trick, he replied, “When people are cheated in malls and big show-rooms due to heavy lights, they never complain and raise any objections. But if we try to attract customers through lights, people put blame us of cheating.”

After knowing the trick, Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) health officers took action against vendors and also seized about 50 green lights from vegetable market of Bittan.

Health officer, SP Shrivastava said, “On Monday, BMC’s four teams took action against vendor and also seized 50 green lights.”

  • Shruti Tomar
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Shruti Tomar

    I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More