Farm related pesticides found dumped inside well in Kadri park

Farm related pesticides found dumped inside well in Kadri park

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 10: Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and police officers have suddenly visited a spot inside the Kadri Park on Thursday 10, where farmers using bio pesticides and other farm related medicines were found dumped into a deserted well.

 

 

The farm inputs, some costing as much as Rs. 725 for a 250 ml bottle, were made from substances such as fish oil and neem and were supposed to have been distributed free of cost among farmers in the district by the Horticulture Department. Some of these bottles were also imported from the U.S. While most of the farm inputs had crossed their “expiry date”, several of them were still usable.

 

 

 

 

Ponnuraj, however, said that “I got an anonymous call on Thursday morning stating that a truckload of fertilizers had been secretly dumped in the well late the previous night.”.

However, he stressed that procurements were not done only by executives and that a Zilla Panchayat Standing Committee, headed by an elected representative, had to approve the purchase. “But, the question that still remains is, why purchase fertilizers and pesticides if there is no demand?” Mr. Ponnuraj asked.

Mr. Ponnuraj later visited the warehouse of the Horticulture Department, where he did not find the required stock registers. He sealed the three warehouses of the department and seized their books of accounts. “We expect the results of the preliminary enquiry report in two days,” he said.