Kerala pesticide unity goes for a toss

[1]

The united stance taken by the state on endosulfan came apart on Saturday, with ruling and opposition leaders sparring over the issue.

This is sad as it calls for a mature political response than muscle flexing and name calling to resolve a three-decade-old tragedy wrought by unscientific spraying of endosulfan in Kasargod district.

People have lived with miscarriages, genetic mutation, hormonal imbalances and sexual dysfunctions while scientists have been working to get clinching proof to nail endosulfan.

Victims have received little relief from successive governments.

It was in 1976 that Plantation Corporation of Kerala started aerial-spraying endosulfan on cashew. The first report in the media on the harmful effects of the pesticide appeared in 1982. But the spraying continued up to 2000, contaminating the air and the land.

Although a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mr V.S. Achuthanandan on November 23 resolved to send an all-party contingent to New Delhi, it materialised only five months later, with Health Minister Ms P.K. Sreemathy heading the delegation instead of the Chief Minister.

The blame game has started in real earnest with Mr Achuthanandan calling Dr Singh’s stance “devilish” and State Congress president Mr Ramesh Chennithala saying the former was speaking like a street cadre of his party.

Disheartened by the political polemics, Dr Y.S. Mohan Kumar, one of the first in the area to campaign against the pesticide, said the government should depute a team with a clear mandate to the Stockholm conference starting April 25 than be content with the mass pledge and the Chief Minister’s fast.

Even the latest studies conducted by the Calicut Medical College have confirmed evidence of the endosulfan havoc. “So it’s important we advocate a wholesale ban at Stockholm,” said Dr Kumar.