Several tea gardens in Upper Assam destroyed wild mushrooms grown on hundreds of acres of land in a week-long drive in Tinsukia district.

Deaths because of consumption of wild mushrooms are often reported in tea tribes villages in the state.

The drive was done in the wake of several deaths and illness following the consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms in several districts of Upper Assam mostly in the garden areas last year.

Aamir Singh, a tea planter at Phillobari in Tinsukia, told The Telegraph, “In a week-long cleanliness drive of garden, we have destroyed all wild mushrooms of our gardens and we will keep it doing round the year and ahead.”

Hundreds of gardens launched a cleanliness drive basically for uprooting wild mushrooms before the first flush of green leaves to plucked in coming months to avoid any untoward incident by consumption of the wild fungus.

Jai Prakash Shah, a tea planter and social activist in Tinsukia district, said, “There is an urgent need to create awareness in all 803 gardens across Assam about the danger of consumption of wild mushroom.”

“Tea garden workers hardly get time to go to market to purchase green vegetables since they work in the estates from morning till evening. While returning, they pluck wild mushrooms, available in abundance from March to October, in the gardens if not destroyed this season. Once cooked, wild mushrooms taste like meat which they cannot afford to buy. Since most of the tea garden workers are unlettered, they are unaware of the dangerous properties of these mushrooms.”

The planters said they always keep their garden clean and ask their workers to destroy all wild mushrooms frequently.

Brahmanand Goswami, manager of a private tea garden here, said, “Garden welfare officers, NGOs, teachers, intellectuals, village headmen, ward numbers, councillors and the tea garden welfare department should come together to spread awareness.”

Ved Prakash Mishra said, “Consuming wild mushrooms can lead to harmful effects, from gastrointestinal discomfort to death. It is difficult to distinguish between edible and toxic mushrooms.”

Last year in February, two deaths were reported following the consumption of chhatu or wild mushrooms following its consumption in Demow in Sivasagar district. Five persons also fell ill.