Kolkata Although Kerala and Karnataka have asked for a ban on the usage of endosulfan, a broad spectrum pesticide, West Bengal is yet to make up its mind. The state will re-examine impacts of the pesticide before it takes a decision, state agriculture minister Naren De said.
India has decided to join a global consensus to end the production and use of endosulfan after being allowed 11 years to phase it out and promised financial assistance. This decision is not irreversible since India has to ratify its own decision.
Rejecting suggestions that the government was against a ban on endosulfan, environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said the country could phase out the pesticide earlier if a cost-effective alternative was found.
A visibly agitated Mr Ramesh also lashed out at Kerala chief minister V.S.
Achuthanandan, who is leading an anti-endosulfan campaign, saying,
CSE welcomes the shift in Indian government's position on on endosulfan at the Stockholm Convention and wants government to expedite the phase out as its health hazards are now known & accepted.
The outcome of Stockholm Convention to ban endosulfan capping a long-drawn campaign against the pesticide on health grounds may have brought cheers to the opponents but the domestic industry is crying foul suspecting an European link aiming to capture the Indian market.
India and a few other developing countries extracted several exemptions, including a phase out period of 11 years to ban produ
If endosulfan is evil, why does the Indian farmer use it? Surely, there is a farmer's point of view. The first reports linking endosulfan to health problems and birth defects in Kasaragod, Kerala were published in February 2001 in Down to Earth. The Supreme Court has now banned the use of the pesticide till an expert committee submits its report in around eight weeks.
Exemption for its application against 44 pests in 22 crops
The Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention in Geneva on Friday approved the recommendation for elimination of production and use of endosulfan and its isomers worldwide, subject to certain exemptions.
The decision will not be binding on India unless specifically ratified by the country.
The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala to press for a total ban on production, sale and use of Endosulfan in the country was total and peaceful.
The hartal hit normal life across the State with vehicles, barring two-wheelers and a few four-wheelers, staying off the road and shops and commercial establishments downing their shutters.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) welcomes the shift in Indian government's position on on endosulfan at the Stockholm Convention and wants government to expedite the phase out as its health hazards are now known and accepted.
