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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Pesticide poisoning continues to claim farmers' lives in Maharashtra -Serish Nanisetti

Pesticide poisoning continues to claim farmers' lives in Maharashtra -Serish Nanisetti

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published Published on Dec 12, 2017   modified Modified on Dec 12, 2017
-The Hindu

In the cotton belt of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, pesticide poisoning through inhalation has caused 21 deaths in three months. Serish Nanisetti reports on the deadly cocktail of absent regulation, government apathy, and farmers’ desperation that continues to claim lives

Geeta Bandu Sonule doesn’t cry any more. Not even when she relives the final moments of her husband Chandrakant Bandu Sonule (40), who died two months ago, after spraying pesticide on a cotton field.

On September 19 this year, it had been raining on and off in the small village of Manoli in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district. Bandu, as he was known in the village, had come to the cotton farm of Shankar Ramakrishna Chowdhuri in search of work. That morning, he filled a container with the pesticide handed to him, and pulled a cord to bring the petrol-powered sprayer to life.

Covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, he began spraying the fine mist on the cotton field. The crop was taller than the five-and-a-half foot labourer, who had taken on the task for a daily wage of ?300. Inhaling the toxic mist was an occupational hazard he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about.

A death foretold

Bandu began spraying at 9 a.m. and did not stop except to indulge his small vice: kharra (an addictive blend of scented tobacco ground with lime). He had bought two packets, costing ?10 each, for the day’s use. His wife hadn’t packed his lunch. “It was pitru paksh amavasya (new moon), so he was fasting. He didn’t take food but told me about the kharra packets. Usually he has jhunka bhakar (a spicy preparation of gram flour eaten with jowar roti) in the morning, and carries the same thing for lunch,” says Geeta.

“It had rained during the day. The sky was cloudy. Bandu returned home just as it was getting dark. He had his bath, and made the ritual offering to his deceased father. After that he started complaining of dizziness and nausea. I told him it must be because of his fasting. He sat down for a dinner of chicken, jowar roti, green chillies, and onions. Then he started throwing up, and said he was unable to see. He kept vomiting, and was tossing and turning all night,” she recalls, surrounded by her father, mother, daughter, nieces and nephews in her parents’ house in Amdi village, 2 km from Manoli.

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The Hindu, 9 December, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/when-every-breath-kills/article21337426.ece


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