Pesticide residue testing lab yet to see light of day
Jalandhar, August 20
To monitor pesticide residue in food items, the Agriculture Department had proposed to set up Punjab’s first Pesticide Residue Testing Laboratory (PRTL) in 2008. The construction work for the PRTL was entrusted to the Punjab Mandi Board in 2009, which was completed at the cost of Rs 2.84 crore.
Fifteen years later, there is no lab, only the building remains. The amount has already been sanctioned and the department has also received the money, but nothing has been done yet. Even the department officials do not really know the reason behind the delay.
The foundation stone for the opening of the laboratory and agriculture office was laid by former Director, Agriculture, Mangal Singh Sandhu, on May 18, 2012. However, the laboratory area, which has eight spacious rooms, is currently being used for record-keeping by the Agriculture Department.
As per the information, an estimate of Rs 18 crore had been made for renovating the building. Last year, a team from Mohali had also visited the site to check technical aspects related to the laboratory, and it was said that the testing would be done on the first floor where complete isolation would be required, while the sampling would be done on the ground floor.
The then Director of the State Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare had claimed that the process had already started and within a year, the laboratory would be ready. “A survey was recently carried out by a team and we are waiting for the project report. The process will start thereafter,” the former director of the department had said, but everything remains the same.
Chief Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar, Jaswant Rai said, “The department has received the grant and the lab would be functional soon.”
