Delhi government: Have limited infrastructure for testing pesticides in fruits and vegetables

The Delhi government has told the Delhi High Court that it has limited infrastructure in the laboratories for testing pesticides in fruits and vegetables. At the same time, it claims to have chalked out plans to inform the public about its side effects.

The Delhi government submitted that currently only 28 varieties of pesticides could be tested in its laboratories. The city government in its affidavit submitted that a Pesticide Residue Management Cell (PRMC) has been constituted under the control of the food commissioner and that it has also translated the information in Hindi, Gurmukhi and Urdu.

Perusing the submissions by the state government, the division bench of acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul asked the government to file a supplementary affidavit detailing the steps it intends to take for expanding its infrastructure.

The court also asked the ministry of agriculture to file an affidavit within four weeks regarding longand short-term measures to minimize the harm and make people aware about the ‘ways and means’ to deal with the situation. The court directed amicus curiae Sanjay Jain to go through the steps taken by the state government and give his suggestions on the next date of hearing, which is 21 May.

“Prima facie, it appears that some short-term measures have been taken by the NCT government although we find that with regard to sample testing of fruits and vegetables on monthly basis, the report of the government is not to our satisfaction,” the bench said.

Source: PTI