Bureau Prayagraj- A shocking report has come regarding the offerings made in Vaishno Devi temple. Devotees make offerings of silver to please the Gods, but these have now been confirmed to contain the dangerous poisonous cadmium. That means a big scam has come to light in the silver offerings made in Vaishno Devi temple. ET has reported that the country’s Mint has found in its investigation that only 5-6 percent of the silver offered by devotees is genuine silver. The rest is poisonous cadmium and cheap iron.

Every year lakhs of devotees visit the cool Trikuta hills of Jammu and Kashmir to visit Mata Vaishno Devi. They buy silver coins, jewelery or other things and offer them to the Goddess. Devotees think that they are offering pure silver. But they are actually offering a poisonous substance whose use is prohibited.

In fact, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board recently sent about 20 tonnes of collected silver offerings to the Government Mint. Mint officials began the process of melting and storing it. But the experts who tested it found a surprising thing. According to the Economic Times, senior Mint officials have said that only 5-6 percent of the metal purchased and offered by devotees is genuine silver. The rest is cadmium and iron.

Nowadays the price of silver is around Rs 2 lakh 75 thousand per kg. Whereas cadmium, which looks similar to silver in colour, is priced at only Rs 400-500 per kg. Iron is even cheaper. The Shrine Board expected to get around Rs 500-550 crore from 20 tonnes of silver. But the price of real silver hardly came out to be around Rs 30 crores.

According to the English newspaper report, Mint has raised this problem several times in the last one year. He has written a letter to the office of Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the Shrine Board. In a letter, Mint has written, ‘Such immoral activities are taking place around Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple which are deceiving the devotees. Devotees buy silver items but they do not know that cadmium is mixed in it, which looks like silver in colour.

Mint has further written that cadmium is very poisonous. This poses a health risk to the workers and can cause pollution in the air and water. Therefore, making such fake silver items should be stopped immediately. In a recent batch, about 70 kg of offered silver was delivered to the Mint. Only 3 kg of real silver was found in it. According to an ET report, a senior Mint official said, ‘We had to employ people for three months to sort the goods. Still, more silver was found only in small areas, which was checked with an expensive machine worth Rs 25 lakh.