Hyderabad: Several villages in Nizamabad district have passed resolutions in their Village Development Committees (VDC) to prevent ice-cream carts from entering their villages this summer. They will levy a fine of Rs 5,000 for entering the village without permission.

The VDCs of Ankapur village in Armur mandal, Kolipak village in Jakranpally mandal and Anksapur village in Belpur mandal have already passed such a resolution, which is most likely to be emulated by several villages in the district.

The villagers say that the decision was taken in view of harmful chemicals, expired ingredients and food colours being used in the making of such ice creams, which were revealed during recent several raids on such facilities by the food safety and other officials.

The villagers say that there is nothing more important than protecting the health of their children, especially during the summer, when they are most prone to ice cream addiction.

A public representative of Anksapur village told the media that the objective was not to levy such a heavy fine but to warn the ice cream vendors from entering the village to sell adulterated and harmful products.

“Of course, we are not going to extort them to pay the fine. We unanimously passed the resolution in our VDC in the best interests of our children’s health. We just want to prevent the vendors from entering the village,” he said, while speaking to RTV.

Through this initiative, he felt that awareness on the issue would spread to other villages, and if they could minimise the risk of ice-cream addiction during the summer, they could save their children’s health.

It can be mentioned that Ankapur is a highly progressive, self-sufficient “model village” in Nizamabad district due to its advanced farming, high incomes and urban amenities. “Ankapur chicken” is a unique food preparation that is famous in the state.