The state government informed the Kerala High court on Wednesday 10th November,2010 that it had requested the central government to ban the use of Endosulfan all over the country as its use had caused much misery to the people.
In an affidavit, the state government said the use of Endosulfan had been banned or phased out in all countries including Brazil and US. At a review meeting of the Stockholm convention in Geneva recently, the use of the pesticide was seriously considered as persistent organic pollutant.
The Government said that studies had shown that Endosulfan was extremely toxic in nature. The affidavit, seeking to constitute a special tribunal for identifying Endosulfan victims in Kararagod and awarding compensation to them.
The plantation corporation of Kerala and the state government were not making any efforts to identify the victims of their relatives and pay them compensation. It was , there for, essential to constitute a tribunal on the lines of the special tribunals for munnar land disputes and victims of the pollution caused by the coca-cola plant at plachimada.
The affidavit said the government had addressed a letter to the union Agriculture Ministry seeking early action for solving the problems created by the use of Endosulfan. The government said that four expert committees had done epidemiological study at padre village in Kasaragod where aerial spraying of the pesticide was conducted by the corporation. All the committees had recommended stoppage of aerial spraying of Endosulfan.
Union Minister for agriculture should visit the hamlets of Kasaragod where people are suffering due to the use of Endosulfan.The Minister should see how victims of Endosulfan live and how a generation of mothers have to help their children.There would be no point in appointing more c committee to study the plight of people there.
The Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Occupational Health had recommended a ban on Endosulfan. Its study had found the pesticide to be the cause behind various diseases prevent in Kasaragod.
Prof. John Kurakar
1 comment:
There does not seem to be any concrete evidence that Endosulfan claims lives. Even the news reports always claim that the recent deaths in Kerala have been ‘suspected’ to be due to exposure to Endosulfan. Does anyone have any concrete proof to substantiate these claims?
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