The officials of the Agriculture Department collected 2,456 samples of pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and weedicides in the last 13 years here, of which, 38 were found to be substandard.
The officials said the samples were sent to the department laboratories for tests.
Further, perusal of the records revealed that the department officials were yet to lodge a case against those who were found selling pesticides of inferior quality during the years 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Sources in the department said in this year, so far, 125 samples were lifted and only four were found to be of inferior quality in the first test, however, the second time round, the same four samples cleared the test.
A senior official of the department said they were in the process of filing a complaint with the police and would directly move to the court as well. “In such cases, usually, the fine is imposed on the violator. Recently, a fine of Rs10,000 and Rs15,000 was imposed on some manufacturers and marketing companies,” he said.
Repeated attempts to contact Baljinder Brar, Chief Agriculture Officer, Muktsar, proved to be futile. — TNS
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Source: Tribune India