Authorities take tough stand against vegetable growers using drain water

 

 

 

 

Under a joint drive, senior officials of Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC), district administration and other departments concerned, on Saturday cracked a whip at vegetable growers, accused of using polluted drain water for irrigation. Collector Raghavendra Singh and Municipal Commissioner Ramprakash Ahirwar said that the administration will not tolerate practices that put public health at risk and strict action will be taken against violators. To ensure swift and effective enforcement, the Collector formed a nine-member inspection committee.

 

The Municipal Commissioner also held a significant meeting with Municipal Corporation officials and directed the team to start field action without delay. The special inspection team includes the SDM as chairperson, the Additional Commissioner (Health), Superintending Engineer (Sewerage) of JMC, MP Pollution Control Board regional officer, Joint Director of Agriculture, Health Officer of the Municipal Corporation, Encroachment Officer, Food Safety Officer and the concerned Police Station In-charge.

 

The Collector and Municipal Commissioner said that senior officers have been instructed to conduct joint inspections and submit daily action reports. Accordingly, in first operation, the team carried out an extensive drive along Omti drain, where officials found vegetables being irrigated with contaminated nullah water. The team seized four motor pumps and collected water samples for testing. Officials said strict legal action will follow once the test results are received. Both the Collector and Municipal Commissioner have directed the Committee to conduct regular inspections to ensure residents are protected from contaminated produce.

 

Those present were Naib Tehsildar Ramesh Koshti, Assistant Commissioner and Health Officer Ankita Burman, Assistant Engineer (Sewerage) Sanjay Singh, Assistant Health Officer Anil Bari, Dharmendra Raj, Pola Rao, Chief Health Inspector Sachin Jain, Health Inspector Aman Chaturvedi, Kishan Dubey, Encroachment Team in-charge Brij Kishore Tiwari, Durga Rao and other staff.