‘Need special cell to monitor pesticide residue in vegetables’

“The monitoring of pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables sold in Delhi should be intensified in the public interest. The Delhi government may consider establishing a Pesticide Residue Management Cell (PRMC) under the control of Food Commissioner of the state,” the panel,set up to to look into the issue pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables sold in Delhi,recommended.

It said the Cell shall co-ordinate with other authorities including APMC and be responsible for handling all issues related to pesticide residues on food articles. It also opined that government’s testing infrastructure should be strengthened through “additional working space,skilled and trained manpower,sophisticated equipment,etc for smooth and efficient functioning of laboratory. The laboratory capacity is presently under utilised…”

In addition,the experts suggested that a technical work programme should be developed by the Delhi government so that number of samples of particular fruits and vegetables would be identified and also no consignment should be allowed to enter the country without pre-dispatch pesticide testing report by the exporter.

“…samples of imported fruits and vegetables should be drawn by Plant Quarantine Stations at international arrival point and monitored for the presence of pesticide residues,” the committee said.

Earlier,the court had taken suo motu cognisance of a media report based on the survey report of an NGO saying that vegetables and fruits sold in the city’s markets contain chemicals from pesticides capable of causing cancer and harming the nervous system and liver.

Later,the court had set up the experts committee and ordered for survey and surprise checks on markets. The NGO’s survey claimed to have found that 35 types of vegetables and fruits sold in wholesale and retail markets in the city contained pesticides beyond permissible limits.

NGO Consumer Voice,one of the petitioners in the court,said the quantum of pesticides in fruits and vegetables in India,especially those sold in Delhi markets,was as much as 750 times the European standards. The NGO claimed that of the five internationally banned pesticides,four were found to be common in vegetables sold here.