The vendors said that a team of officials, who inspected the fish varieties in the market on July 9, claimed that the formalin has been used in the fishes and seized them.

Since then, the footfall at the fish market has come down drastically.

“The claim of officials that the banned chemical was used in fish by vendors was false. It is absolutely a wrong information. Because of such false accusations, our livelihood is completely lost,” the traders lamented.

Condemning the statement of officials without proper verification and tests, the vendors downed the shutters and raised slogans against the officials. They claimed that business worth over Rs 1 crore has been lost in the past two days.

Vendors also claimed that they never resorted to use of formalin and sought the officials to publicly announce that the shops in the market do not use any banned chemicals. Such a clarification would help revive our business, they added.