No end to their Endosulfan woesr

IIned

months. The incidence ofI

dcongenital abnormalities, Sneurological disorders, abor-tions, epilepsy and other dis-eases is now comparable tothe rest of the population inthe State. However, M. Mo-hammed, who serves at thepublic health centre at Kada-rudukka, said surveys had shown that the incidence of bonedeformities, infertility. men-tal retardation and congenitalheart diseases in the pan.chayat is 10 times more thanthose among the other pop-ulations. Babies are born evennow with cleft palates andother congenitalabnormalities.

Water sources hitThe local people say the go-

vetnment machinery hasbeen lax in addressing theproblem \i:Vel'since it was re-ported in the Nineties. Thegovernment has failed to de-contaminate the water SOUl'C-es or arrange alternativewater supply - eitherthrough large schemes orrainwater harvesting. Thesources of several existingwater supply schemes arecontaminated. Even watersupplied through tankers insummer is not tested for thepresence of pesticides.

The attempts of the go-vernment to provide medicalcare and ensure rehabilita-tion of the affected people areoften delayed and have failedto achieve much. On the otherhand, voluntary groups andorganisations like the Soli-darity Youth Movement havebeen able to extend bettersupport to the victims.

1>!i~m!!"M~"non,",,"

Effortsto protectaffectedvillagersinKasaragodarewantinginmanyrespectsRoy Mathew

KASARAGOD:People exposed topesticide Endosulfan in Kas-aragod district continue tosuffer. Despite governmentpromises, official efforts totreat and rehabilitate the vic-tims and protect them fromexposure to contaminatedsoil and Water are wanting.

While the incidence of chil-dren born with neurobeha-vioural disorders, congenitalmalformation and other ab-normalities has come down inmost of the 11worst-affectedpanchayats, it continues tooccur in other panchayats.While about 500 deaths since1995 have been officially ac-knowledged as related to thespraying of Endosulfan, un-official estimates put the totalnumber of deaths since thelate Seventies at around4,000. People are still dyingfrom the after-effects of thepesticide, while more than1,000 live in misery. Morethan 9,000 people havehealth problems caused by

. , the pesticide used by theState-owned Plantation Cor-poration of Kerala (PCK) inits cashew plantations. ThePCK has cashew plantationsat Kasaragod, Rajapuram,Cheemeni and Mannarkkad.

Aerial sprayingThe corporation began ae-

, I rial sprayingof the pesticidein its plantations spreadacross 15 panchayats in thedistrict in 1978and continued

,

I

till 2001. The pesticide, whichI is not easilydegradable,con-I taminated the soil and water, and found its way into the

food chain, affecting lowerand higher forms oflife in thearea, including human be-... .

THELIVINGDEAD:They are oblivious of the lightand shade. Jeevan Raj and Devi Kiran ofKasaragod district with their mother.- PHOTO: ROY MATHEW

ings. The half-life of Endosul-fan varies from 60 days to 800days. At its Kasaragod estatealone, the PCK sprayed 31,510litres of Endosulfan between1990 and 2000. Only a smallfraction of this would remainin the environment now.However, its degrade prod-ucts such as Endosulfan sul-fate and Endosulfan diol arealso toxic. The combinedhalf-life of Endosulfan and itstoxic residues is estimated torange from nine mOl}thsto sixyears, according to the Envi-ronmental Protection Agencyof the U.S. This means thattoxic materials could still bepresent in the environmentof the affected villages inmeasurable quantities, espe-

dally in sediments wherethey accumulate.

With the reduction of thepoison in the environment,insects, butterflies and otherspecies that had almost dis-appeared from the affectedpanchayats have returned.Y.S. Mohana Kumar, whoruns medical clinics at Yath-rika and two 'nearby localitiesand was the first doctor todraw public attention to therising number of congenitalabnormalities in the Nip,eties,told The Hindu that cases ofchildren born with abnormal-ities have come down in hislocality. There is no birth rec-orded of children with dis-abilities in the Perla andPadre areas for the past three -...I¥Ph

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