A lab for rusting equipment

KOCHI: The Regional Analytical Laboratory (RAL), the only government centre  in the district where one can check the presence of pesticides and other impurities in fruits and vegetables, is in dire straits.  The sophisticated equipment procured for the laboratory have been lying idle    for the past 15 years and the authorities are least bothered by it.  After the equipment is purchased, there is much delay in installing it in the laboratory. And the delay results in the lapse of the warranty period.  When the equipment has some minor snags, there is no one to look into it.“Equipment such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography (GC) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), which were  brought 15 years ago, have been lying unused till now,” official sources said.  The government had not yet taken any initiative to maintain these equipment  that are worth crores of rupees.  “The Annual Maintenance Contract has not been renewed and this makes it   difficult to maintain the equipment,” he said and added that there had been  no response from the government to the numerous letters sent in this regard. “The funds were not utilised in a proper way,” he added.At present, the RAL depends on an outdated Thin Layer Chromatography for testing. Moreover, the lab does not have fixed standards for conducting the  tests. “The Thin Layer Chromatography can only detect the presence of pesticides  and other impurities. It won’t give the details. For getting minute details,  sophisticated equipment such as HPLC, GC and AAS have to be be used,” sources said. Another official associated with the laboratory said they were getting only   informal samples as there was no sophisticated equipment. “Most people   prefer private labs which are more reliable and gives accurate results,” he said.