Surendra Kafle

Nepalgunj, January 21:

Reckless storing of pesticides in the premises of Cotton Development Committee (CDC), Khajura, National Seed Company (NSC) and Agriculture Development Office (ADO) is posing serious threat to the welfare of human beings and the environment alike.

It is learnt that six of the pesticides are banned in the world market, while hundreds of others have expired dates.

A ban was imposed on pesticides including Aldrine Dust, Ariton, Seresandry, Agalog, DDT, GN, Agrosian by Stockholm Convention. Nepal too, has banned the import of these chemicals under the Pesticide Act 2048 and Regulation 2051. The godown of the cooperative of NSC at Banke village has 18 types of 88 quintals 80.5 kg of pesticides. It also has eight types of liquid pesticides and 15 tubes of paste. There are 23 types of date expired liquid pesticides in CDS godown and 135 litres of pesticides in ADO godown. The godowns are situated amidst dense human settlements.