Undelivered pesticides turn toxic at godown
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 12 2012: While farmers in this cash-strapped State are made to fork out hard-earned money to purchase pesticides/insecticides from the markets, controlled by a handful of agents, there is no explicit explanation on how tonnes of these high-demand agriculture necessity continue to remain a pile of waste material at the Mantripukhri godown of State's Agriculture Department.

Even though investigation by the Sangai Express to find out the compelling reason why over 20,000 metric tonne of pesticides could not be provided to the farmers in time remained elusive it came to light that the purchases were made in between 1968 to 1984 .

According to Agriculture Officer of Mantripukhri Agriculture Office (AO) Th Ranjit the purchase made during the specific period which are awaiting disposal include pesticides/insecticides of 11,534,00 litres, similar material in solid form making up 9876.30 kilograms and 68.8 kgs Cyno-gas.

It is said that highly toxic materials comprise of insecticide, fungicide, weedicide and rodenticide, which the AO informed used to be provided to the farmers at subsidised rate upto 1998 .

However, after the said year (1998) for reasons best known to the policy makers Agriculture Department was reportedly dissociated with the task of subsidised sale of various pesticide items as agent/dealers took over the role of ensuring its availability in the market.

citing an official correspondence of August 27, 1992 between the then Agriculture Officer L Govardhan Roy and Director (Agriculture), the former is said to have mentioned that several quantity of insecticides/pesticides have been lying at the Mantripukhri godown for the same could not be made available in time to the State farmers.

The letter is also said to have explained that due to low budgetary allocation by the then Government the additional purchases were made apprehending shortage of the essential agriculture items in that particular season, said AO Ranjit while stating that if and when needed copy of the official correspondence would be place before authority concerned.

Ranjit also informed that on December 23, 1994 the then AO Kh Sudhendra Singh in an official letter to the Faridabad-based Joint Director of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, an undertaking of Government of India, not only informed about the insecticide stock-pile remaining at the Mantripukhri godown but also sought information on how the same could be disposed off.

While relevant advice from the Faridabad Directorate was not forthcoming a ruling of the Supreme Court in 2004 decreed that all insecticide consignments that had lapsed usage period should be disposed off, recounted the AO who also highlighted that an earlier row on the disposal issue between Research Foundation for Science & Technology and National Resource Policy with the Central Government resulted in a similar ruling of the apex court for disposing expired insecticides.

Consequent to the latter Supreme Court ruling, the Centre asked Pollution Control Boards of all the States to monitor on not only the storage aspect of the toxic materials but to work out a mechanism for safe disposal of unused insecticides, Ranjit maintained and added that Manipur PCB officials made inspection visits at the Mantripukhri godown.

Inspite of need to dispose off the expired insecticides/pesticides the same could not be carried out as Manipur had no safe or designated location for the exercise, which requires not only utmost care in handling the toxic materials but also need to ensure that the dumping site is not ventured by humans or animals.

As per Government of India regulation dumping of toxic wastes, including unused pesticides, are located in the State's of bihar, West Bengal, Odisha (Orissa), Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

According to the AO approval of the Central Government is mandatory for any agencies or State Government to ship out toxic materials at the identified dumping sites.

In the same way strict measures were adopted during transportation of insecticides to the States, there should be no laxity in taking carrying away these materials to the dumping locations.

Proposing that officials concerned consult Government of Manipur on how these toxic substances could be removed from the Mantripukhri godown to the dumping sites at the earliest, Ranjit also asserted that there is no complaint of health problems amongst the godown personnel on account to storage of the highly toxic materials.

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