The nexus between the Rs 4100-crore pesticide industry and the government was in evidence again recently as the Pesticides Association of India (PAI) took up the cudgels for O P Dubey, the head of an eight-member expert committee that gave a clean chit to organochlorine pesticide endosulfan.

Towards the end of October, PAI sent a legal notice to Y S Mohana Kumar, a medical practitioner of Kerala's Kasaragod district where people suffered several health problems due to endosulfan. Kumar incurred the wrath of the industry for penning a letter published in Down To Earth's July 31, 2003, issue.

Commenting on an article that had appeared in the magazine earlier (see Down To Earth,