Recently, the Stockholm Convention prohibited the use of toxaphene and has been reviewing endosulfan. The historical use of these pesticides may contaminate food and tend to accumulate in the food chain.
Evidence is mounting on the ill-effects of Endosulfan sprayed on cashew plantations in Kasaragod district, even as the Union government continues to be ambivalent on the issue.
A survey done by the Health Department has identified nearly 4,000 victims after screening 16,000.
The “Endosulfan poisoning “ at Kasargod was first reported in the media in 1979 by Sri. Shreepadre farm journalist from the village Padre. The Plantation Corporation of Kerala started areal spraying of endosulfan in its cashew plantations in Kasargod district in 1976.
It has been more than a dozen years since health professionals in north Kerala started noticing unusual health disorders in the tracts where there had been aerial spraying of the pesticide endosulfan on cashew plantations. Surveys, studies and countless media reports have brought out the burden of endosulfan. The Government of Kerala has even banned the sale of the pesticide.
The Karnataka government has banned use of pesticide endosulfan with immediate effect for a period of 60 days. The state Cabinet, chaired by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, announced the decision on February 17.
As the demand for a ban on endosulfan in India is gaining pitch, the pesticide associations are leaving no opportunity to vilify CSE for saving their US $ 100m market. CSE responds with the facts and a detailed chronology of events.
