LAHORE, June 8: Governor Khalid Maqbool has asked police to join a campaign against pesticide adulteration, asking them to swoop down on those indulging in it.
He gave the direction while chairing a meeting on the provision of unadulterated pesticides, fertilizers and other chemical inputs to farmers in the province at the Governor’s House.
The governor asked police to coordinate with the special task force against adulteration of pesticides and immediately arrest those found making or selling adulterated pesticides and other items before they could take advantage of any loophole in the law.
He reportedly directed that every district police officer must provide force to the special task force for raiding factories, godowns and shops, manufacturing and selling adulterated pesticides and other related items.
According to official sources, the governor gave the direction to police after being briefed on the unabated manufacturing and selling of adulterated pesticides and other related items not only in the organized sector but also by the informal sector minting money at the cost of the huge losses to the country.
The governor asked the police to immediately conduct raids and arrest those indulging in the business whenever an information was provided to them by the special task force or any other source. “Penetrate into the warehouses and factories to curb the menace,” the governor was quoted as having asked police.
The sources said the governor was informed that six units, two in Karachi and four in the Punjab, were making pesticides by mixing their active ingredients with emulsifiers like kerosene.
But it had been detected that certain producers were mixing content of the active ingredients less than the requirement to save money, producing impotent pesticides. This was creating drug resistance among pests, making them more dangerous for crops, it was stated.
The governor was reportedly informed that adulteration had also been detected at the level of refilling and bottling of readymade patent pesticides at local level.
Then, the governor was informed, those in the unorganized sector were playing the most dirty role, making spurious pesticides at hidden factories in every nook and corner. These products were sold mainly to the unwary farmers for their less prices, it was stated.
It was stated during the meeting that spurious fertilizers mainly made by certain people in the NWFP were also being sold in the Punjab. They were selling gypsum in the name of fertilizers and adulterated urea, and were simply damaging soil.
The sources said the governor urged the need for establishing an intelligence network to go after those making and selling adulterated and spurious pesticides.
They said the governor ordered that the strength of testing laboratories in Multan, Faisalabad and Kala Shah Kaku be doubled. Another direction was to convert the soil testing laboratory in Bahawalpur into another pesticide testing laboratory. He hoped that this step would help speedily check samples of adulterated pesticides and to promptly get the defaulters punished.