ATTOCK, July 26: The Punjab government’s Directorate of Agricultural Information has said that there have been no reports on the sale of banned pesticides. Clarifying a news item published on page 18 of Dawn Metropolitan’s July 12 edition under the headline “Banned pesticides being sold openly”, the directorate said the story was not based on facts.

It said that inspectors from the pest and extension wings were monitoring/checking the pesticide business regularly, adding that samples of pesticides were also tested regularly.

In case of negative results, it said, action was taken against the dealers/agencies involved. Even negligence on the part of official staff is not tolerated.