Victims’ forum relaunches hunger strike after six months

The laxity of the government in providing relief and rehabilitation to hapless endosulfan victims in the district is forcing them to relaunch the indefinite hunger strike after six months, senior journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar has said. He was inaugurating the relay hunger strike spearheaded by the Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnani (EPJM) on the new bus station premises here on Monday.

Demand for implementation of relief package

Accusing the government of “moving slow” on its promise to disburse the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)-assured compensation and of omitting a few identified endosulfan victims from the list of persons to be compensated, yet another indefinite relay hunger strike will begin here from February 18. Social and cultural activists and the mothers of the victims will take part in the agitation, spearheaded by the Endosulfan Peedhitha Janakeeya Munnani in their bid to force the government to swiftly implement the NHRC-suggested rehabilitation package, Munnani convener Ambalathara Kunhikrishnan said.

Rehabilitation scheme for endosulfan victims

Senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran has called upon Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to convene a meeting to review the progress of the government initiative for relief and rehabilitation schemes for endosulfan victims.

“There have been complaints that the government-announced packages are not reaching the victims. The Chief Minister should hold a review meeting with people’s representatives and activists of various voluntary organisations that have been fighting for the cause of endosulfan victims,” Mr. Sudheeran told reporters here on Monday. The participation of activists of voluntary organisations in the review meeting is essential to assess the problems faced by endosulfan victims and their families, he said.

The tiny tots at the Aided Upper Primary School in Podavur village continue their endeavour to conserve environment and energy.

This time around, they not only managed to save 3,939 units of electricity during August-September in select households in a nearby locality but have sent out a strong message against wasteful power consumption at a time when the State is seriously debating the rising energy use in the backdrop of a grim power scenario.

The ongoing agitation seeking swift relief and rehabilitation package for the hundreds of endosulfan victims has taken a curious turn with the victims and their families in the district sending letters to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking its intervention.

While several affected family members residing in remote villages sent the letters to the NHRC in their respective post offices, quite a few families under the aegis of Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnai staged a march to the General Post Office here on Human Rights Day on Monday and sent individual letters to the NHRC.

The State government has sanctioned Rs.60.87 lakh for providing educational assistance to endosulfan-affected families.

Minister for Panchayats and Social Welfare M.K. Muneer will inaugurate the disbursement of the assistance at Uppala in Kasaragod district on November 22. The Kerala Social Welfare Mission, which is providing the assistance, had received 2,292 applications for aid. The Minister will hand over the assistance to 12 children on Thursday. Assistance will be sent to others the same day by electronic money order, an official release said on Tuesday.

The Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnani on Thursday took out a march to the District Collector’s office seeking the implementation of the relief and rehabilitation package for victims.

Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnani march today

District Collector P.S. Mohammed Sagir has said here that there is no ground to be apprehensive about the compensation due to the families of endosufan victims. The district administration had been informed about the apprehension of the families that they might be deprived of the compensation suggested by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). There was no need to worry about the government’s intentions, he said in a press release issued here on Wednesday.

Lays emphasis on long-term monitoring

Groundwater resources in Kerala have come under increasing stress from rising levels of exploitation and pollution, the first aquifer atlas of Kerala has revealed. The atlas, compiled by the Central Ground Water Board, estimates the net annual groundwater availability in the State at 6.01 billion cubic metres as on March 2011. The stage of “groundwater development” for the State as a whole has been computed at 47 per cent. The utilisation pattern is, however, uneven across the State, with groundwater-stressed conditions in some parts and sub-optimal groundwater development in some others.

The Western Ghats Protection Committee (WGPC) seeks a detailed study of the tremors felt in certain parts of Kasaragod and Kannur districts on October 14. It feels that the tremors could be the fallout of uncontrolled and illegal granite and laterite mining in the region.

A meeting held here on Monday condemned the false propaganda that the Madhav Gadgil report on the Western Ghats had anti-farmer suggestions in it. The biodiversity of the Western Ghats sustains farming in Kerala and the State would not have simply existed if not for the ghats.