Guwahati, 31 May: Assam Government notified the Gauhati High Court on May 30 that it will begin a statewide testing drive to find out whether pesticides were being used excessively in vegetables and other farm products. 200 testing kits from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) had been brought in for testing the state administration affidavited to the high court.
The government will periodically submit reports during the testing procedure that will help to show how many pesticides were discovered in the test samples.
The petitioners who had revealed the situation before received special instructions from the court. The petitioners would be permitted to file complaints with the police if they can present additional information about the situation, the court further declared.
Gauhati High Court noted that Assam lacked a framework for instantly identifying the presence of pesticides in farm products and vegetables in April of this year.
The high court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) over the use of pesticides in vegetables that enter the food chain when it made the statement.
Gauhati HC had earlier requested Abhijit Baruah, the commissioner of food safety and pharmaceuticals administration in Assam to attend the hearing while it was considering a PIL in the matter.
The senior Assam official from the health and family welfare department was present at the court’s request when the matter was heard.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the Assam government was in discussions with BARC to import tools that would aid in testing farm products for chemical presence.
The state administration informed the Gauhati High Court about this. The high court ordered the relevant departments to inspect the vegetables before they are imported to Guwahati in February of this year.
On the basis of a petition submitted by Advocate Seema Bhuyan, the high court approved a series of regulations pertaining to the use of pesticides in vegetables.
Before imported veggies entered the market and were made available to city citizens various offices including horticulture, legal sciences and health were coordinated to take the necessary precautions.
Gauhati High Court ordered the authorities to deliver a thorough report on this by March 3.
In a PIL, attorney Seema Bhuyan alleged that the state’s crops and vegetables were dangerously over-contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides.
The month previously an investigation into the extensive usage of herbicides and pesticides was conducted by a central team that met with the district’s Agriculture Development Officers (ADO) in Goalpara district of Assam.
In the region office room at the local farming office in Goalpara, they spoke with the Coalition for Agri Development (AAI) and Horticultural Designers Affiliation (AEA).
The crew went to various locations including Dhupdhara, Bikali ADO Circle, Tiplai, Rangjuli ADO Circle, Borpathar, Simlitola Bazar, Matia ADO Circle, Goalpara Town and Agia ADO Circle to visit the retail pesticide merchants.
Bandana Patgiri, Sr., ADO Directorate of Agriculture, Khanapara Assam; Sr. Rajib Kumar Bhuyan Kamal Das, PO Directorate of Agriculture; Hitesh Bezbaruah, SDAO Dudhnoi; ADO Goalpara and Bipul Nath, ADO Rangjuli, were present during the tour to several fertilizer retail dealers.
The team and members of the District Agriculture Office Goalpara had an informational discussion with Matia ADO Circle traders and retailers at Simlitola Bazaar. Indiscriminate pesticide use and adequate pesticide sales documentation were among the topics covered. Farmers in several districts talked about using pesticides in their fields after that team.
Central and State Taskforce jointly checked fertiliser stores for the indiscriminate use of pesticides and chemicals, and they gave them instructions on how to sell and use pesticides in accordance with CIBRC (Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee) guidelines.