LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has kicked off a crackdown on vegetable crops being cultivated on untreated wastewater and destroyed such vegetables on 260 acres around the provincial metropolis.

The crackdown has stahed across the province while the PFA claims to have ploughed 5,600 kanal vegetable fields irrigated on untreated wastewater, a handout stated on Friday.

In Lahore, sewage and industrial waste were being used for cultivation of vegetables in the areas of Bibi Sahiba Darbar, Gulshan-i-Ravi, Kot Abdul Malik, Kahna and the surrounding villages. The PFA disposed of thousands of maunds of vegetables in these areas.

PFA Director General Noorul Amin Mengal said the teams conducted operation on the repon of vigilance cell and the officers concerned. He stressed on the gravity of issue, saying the use of vegetables and fruit grown on wastewater were fatal for human health.

He said the PFA had already warned the farmers against irrigating vegetables on factory waste and sewage but they did not take it seriously and the food safety teams took action against the violators.