Lakhimpur Kheri. A private factory manufacturing micronutrients in Rajapur industrial area of the district has been found to be manufacturing spurious chemical fertilizers in violation of the license. A senior official gave this information on Saturday.
On the orders of District Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh, raids were conducted on Friday afternoon on the licensed private factory ‘Govind Industries’ for the manufacture of micro-nutrients in Rajapur industrial area. The factory owners were found manufacturing spurious chemical fertilizers in violation of the license, the official said.
The team that raided the premises of Govind Industries located in Rajapur industrial area of the district on Friday included Deputy Collector (SDM) Lakhimpur Shraddha Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh and District Agriculture Officer (DAO) Arvind Kumar Choudhary, who used packing and sewing machines, Kribhco. Recovered fresh empty sacks bearing brand names of IFFCO, Paras etc.
District Agriculture Officer (DAO) Arvind Kumar Choudhary said, Govind Industries was given the license only for manufacturing micro-nutrients and not for selling chemical fertilisers. Choudhary said, the recovery of chemical fertilizers from its godown is in violation of the license conditions and appropriate legal action is being taken. He said that several persons engaged in unloading and packing of manure have been detained for questioning. However, the owner of the factory Hrithik Gupta has not been caught.
The recovery of empty bags bearing the names of reputed companies, packing material, wrappers and sewing machines indicated that the licensee was engaged in manufacturing spurious chemical fertilizers and selling them under the brand names of reputed companies.
District Magistrate (DM) Mahendra Bahadur Singh said that the factory was violating the Fertilizer Control Order and the Essential Commodities Act and strict action would be initiated against the owners. The District Magistrate said that acting on a tip-off, SDM, DSP and District Agriculture Officer were sent for surprise inspection of the factory.
The DM said that a notice was pasted on the door of the factory informing about the closure of the factory from October 21 to November 20. He said, however, when the raiding team entered the premises, several people were found engaged in packing of DAP and potash fertilisers. He said, the officials recovered huge quantity of DAP, NPK, Urea, Single Super Phosphate, sand, salt etc apart from boroughs of various reputed brands there. He said, a thorough investigation was initiated in this regard and samples of recovered fertilizers have been sent for further laboratory analysis. (Language)
