'Smoked' fish has just replaced fish 'n' chips in Ranchi.

Portable stalls, introduced in the capital last April to offer residents fresh and hygienic catch, today sell everything - from cigarettes and gutkha to reportedly even marijuana - but the bona fide raw and processed fish.

Last week, Dipatoli homemaker Sarita Banerjee had made a dash for the fish cart at Khel Gaon More after some guests came calling. 'There were packets of cigarettes, sachets of gutkha, bread, biscuits, et al, but no fish fillet. Finally, I had to buy fish like old times, from a roadside vendor who sells it raw and amid unhygienic conditions,' she said.

Banerjee is not the only fish fan left disappointed in recent times. Residents of Booty More and most of the 30 other neighbourhoods where these fish carts had been launched in phases last year are unhappy with the way things are now.

'The stalls had been rolled in by the state fisheries department with twin objectives: making fish available closer to the buyer's home and offering the small-time fish vendor a better platform for income generation. The first objective has been defeated,' said a resident of Booty More.

Under its ambitious plan, the department had provided vendors the carts equipped with freezers along with a one-time stock of raw and processed fish items. The carts, each priced at Rs 40,000, was offered to general category vendors at 50 per cent subsidy, which means they had to pay Rs 20,000 for one. On the other hand, the portable stalls were given to SC/ST fish vendors at 100 per cent subsidy.

'In less than a year, the fish carts have turned into street corner kiosks offering puff, gutkha and what not. In fact, I have seen many college students discreetly buy ganja from the fish cart near Khel Gaon,' said local resident Suraj Minz.

When this correspondent, posing as a buyer last Friday, asked for a stash of marijuana, the vendor at the Khel Gaon cart promptly denied having any. Perhaps, he was truthful. Perhaps, he only sold ganjato a closed ring of buyers. However, strings of gutkha and paan masala did adorn his shop.

'Along with fish, we also sell other items to generate more income. What is the harm?' he retorted when asked why he was selling certain banned products. Asked for fish, the vendor, who refused to reveal his name, added: ' Aaj machhli khatam ho gaya (The stock of fish is over today).'

State fisheries director Rajeev Kumar conceded that fish carts were being abused. 'We too have received several complaints that many stalls don't sell fish, but other items. I think the selection of beneficiaries has to be more stringent. Our aim was to help fish vendors and buyers... We will see how the matter can be sorted out soon,' he said.