endosulfan, a powerful 50-year-old insecticide sometimes called DDT’s “cousin,” was officially banned last week at an international pesticides meeting in Geneva. Partial exemptions were created for India, however; the chemical may be used on some crops there for up to 10 years. Many countries outlawed endosulfan long ago because it is dangerous to farmworkers, accumulates in the body, kills beneficial insects and persists in the environment. The United States is an...

PREGNANT WOMEN in Kasargod district are fighting the endosulfan tragedy in their own way — by opting for abortion. A sacrifice conducted in silence, even a 10-year campaign against the chemical has not yet convinced the government to ban its use. Without the intervention of the welfare state, they are now released from the fear of death and chronic disease. They have seen enough. They have lost many in a short...

A rapid assessment of the effects of endosulfan on cashew plantations, ecology, biodiversity and the people in Kasaragod, conducted by V.S. Vijayan of Salim Ali Foundation, has surmised that the human sufferings and loss of biodiversity caused by the aerial spraying of endosulfan by the State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala in Kasaragod district would qualify as ‘State-sponsored crime'. The study said the State was duty-bound to provide total support to the...

Exemption for its application against 44 pests in 22 crops The decision will not be binding on India unless specifically ratified by it Exemptions will be available for five years, extendable for another five years The Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention in Geneva on Friday approved the recommendation for elimination of production and use of endosulfan and its isomers worldwide, subject to certain exemptions. The decision will not be binding on India...

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here on Friday that people's movements in Kerala and other States had forced the Centre to change its stand at the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Reports and photographs taken to the Convention from Kerala had also helped in arriving at the decision. “It was not just a campaign against the Centre but also one to create awareness of the dangers of the pesticide,” the...