14 years on, pesticide residue testing lab remains defunct in Jalandhar
8-room building was being used by Agri Dept for record-keeping purposes
Punjab got its second government-owned virus-indexing laboratory at the centre of excellence for potato in Dhogri village, Jalandhar, on Monday. The hi-tech facility was established at a cost of nearly Rs 1 crore.
Punjab Horticulture and Defence Services Welfare Minister Mohinder Bhagat, who inaugurated the laboratory, said the facility would play an important role in strengthening disease detection and improving the quality of potato cultivation in the state.
However, while the new laboratory has become operational, another important facility, the Pesticide Residue Testing Laboratory (PRTL), has remained incomplete for years despite the construction of its building being completed more than a decade ago.
The Agriculture Department had proposed setting up Punjab’s first PRTL in 2008 to monitor pesticide residues. In 2009, the construction work was entrusted to the Punjab Mandi Board and the building was completed at a cost of Rs 2.84 crore.
The laboratory and agriculture office was inaugurated by then Director, Agriculture, Mangal Singh Sandhu, on May 18, 2012. However, the proposed laboratory has still not become functional.
The eight-room laboratory building was being used by the Agriculture Department for record-keeping purposes. As per information, an estimated Rs 18 crore had been earmarked for the renovation of the building about two years ago.
The Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Dr Randhir Singh Thakur, said work on the laboratory was underway and expressed confidence that it would be completed by the end of this year. “The work now is going on. Some machinery and equipment have already been received. The laboratory will be ready by the year-end,” he said. Once functional, the laboratory is expected to help the department scientifically assess pesticide residues in the agricultural produce.
