District panchayat president P.P. Shyamala Devi has underscored the need to enforce a blanket ban on sale of non-degradable plastic bags, which are generally used by people to dump garbage. Talking to The Hindu, she admitted that the use of plastic bags had assumed the proportion of a real “villain” in effectively containing the outbreak and spread of fever.

They will be given interest-free loans

The Anti-Endosulfan Campaign Committee, on Monday, launched its “third phase of agitation” to enforce blanket ban on the pesticide in the country.
In a function at Bovikkanam, Malayalam film actor Suresh Gopi declared formally launched the new phase of agitation.
Addressing the gathering, the actor said the country had of late initiated policies hostile to society and to the Earth. “Such evils should be nipped in the bud through active involvement of people,” he said.

Kerala banned the use of 15 pesticides in May this year. However, about a dozen pesticides which were either banned or severely restricted in other countries continue to be used in Kerala, C. Jayakumar of Thanal (an advocacy organisation campaigning against pesticides) told The Hindu. Moreover, several of the banned pesticides are still in use and some of the alternatives suggested officially are pesticides banned in other countries.

The Union Agricultural and Cooperation Department on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that there was no evidence to suggest that long-term use of endosulfan posed health hazards and various nations h

In its response to a petition filed by the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the Centre said that long-term use of the pesticidewas unlikely to present public health concern. The Centre made it clear that Endosulfan was not the reason behind health problems in Kasaragod in Kerala.

KASARGOD (Kerala), 31 JULY: A ten-member Central expert team today visited the district to study on the health status of people residing in the endosulfan-affected areas.