The Delhi high court on Thursday asked the Centre and the city governments to find a solution within two months to the problem of pesticides beyond permissible limits in fruits and vegetables.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Rajiv Shakdher directed various authorities to convene a meeting to sort out the problem affecting people’s health and ensure that banned pesticides were not used while growing fruits and vegetables.
Various government authorities, including the Delhi government’s health secretary and Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board (DAMB) officials and officials of the Union agriculture and health ministries, were asked by the court to convene the meeting and submit their report before it by February 23, the next date of hearing.
The court also asked the government to get all 35 vegetables and fruits examined in laboratories for their pesticide content.
The court’s direction came while it was examining a survey report by NGO Consumer Voice alleging that 35 different types of vegetables and fruits which it had picked up from city markets were found having various intoxicants beyond permissible limits, as much as 750 times higher than European standards, when tested for pesticide content.
The court had taken up suo motu the civil society’s report on pesticide content in vegetables for examination in November last year. The court had earlier formed a panel of lawyers to get the pesticide contents in vegetables examined at laboratories.
On the court’s direction, the lawyers’ panel had got examined over 10 types of vegetables but the court on Thursday asked the government to get all 35 vegetables and fruits examined for their pesticide content.