Inspect fruits, vegetables markets for pesticides: HC tells centre

Delhi High Court Wednesday directed the central government to find out if fruits, especially mangos, contain pesticides by carrying out surprise inspections in fruits and vegetables markets.

A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath asked the agriculture ministry to carry out inspections to find the presence of any chemical in fruits, especially in mangos, and take action against people responsible for that.

The bench said: "The issue is serious in nature and requires the union's response in two weeks. The inspections are also to be carried out in the fruits market to find out whether mangos contain any pesticide residue or chemical. Action taken report to be filed before the court by May 29."

The court's order came after the counsel for petitioner alleged that in the current mango season, one can find chemicals in more than 90 percent of mango fruits sold in the market.

Sellers also inject colours in the fruits and there is no mechanism to check such acts, the counsel added.

NGO Consumer Voice's report found that 35 varieties of vegetables and fruits, picked from Delhi markets and tested for pesticide content, had toxins beyond the permissible limits.

It told the court that vegetables and fruits sold in the city's markets contained poisons capable of causing cancer and harming the nervous system and liver.

The NGO said that the amount of pesticides used by farmers in India was as much as 750 times higher than European standards.