THE ENDOSULFAN "LOVING"GOVERNMENT!-ACTION WITHOUT CONSCIENCE!

Does the Government of India love the ominous pesticide Endosulfan so much that it seems to have lost its conscience, when the Supreme Court was told that this pesticide is "unlikely" to cause any health hazard in spite of 72 countries in the world banning it out right because of its role in many health disorders?. Alternately the powerful Endosulfan lobby has been able to make the government impotent due to considerations other than technical. One must recall that Dr Achutan Commission in August 2001 categorically concluded that an entire population in a district in Kerala suffered from Endosulfan induced health disorders based on evidence collected by spending time among the affected population. It appears that the present team being led by the DG of ICMR has come to a different conclusion in suggesting that the health disorders in that district must be due to congenital factors which should be investigated by the sate government, in stead of blaming the "innocent" Endosulfan! Having agreed to ban this much hated chemical at the Stockholm Convention, does GOI has any conscience left to plead in the Supreme Court to lift the temporary ban which is in place to day? Adding insult to injury, the Endosulfan manufacturers have engaged a senior lawyer of the ruling party for defending its indefensible stand, clearly pointing out its anti-people stance when it comes to lobbyists and power brokers!.

"Maintaining that Endosulfan is unlikely to cause any public health concern or hazard, the Centre has urged the Supreme Court to lift the ban imposed on its production and sale in May this year. In its response to a petition filed by the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the Centre said that long-term use of the pesticide was unlikely to present public health concern. The Centre made it clear that Endosulfan was not the reason behind health problems in Kasaragod in Kerala. On May 13, the court, while banning its use all over India, directed the statutory authorities to freeze the production licences granted to the manufacturers of Endosulfan till further orders. The Court also formed an expert committee to go into all aspects of Endosulfan and asked the Centre to submit a report. Enclosing the report, the Centre, in its affidavit, said: "There is an overall weight of evidence from in-vitro and in-vivo screening tests that Endosulfan is not an endocrine disruptor. It is reported that Endosulfan is either carcinogenic or mutagenic. There is no evidence to suggest that Endosulfan bioaccumulates." Further "it is noteworthy that a number of countries that have banned this chemical have done so as a precautionary measure due to suspected long-term effects on human health. Use of Endosulfan has been put on hold in Kerala also as a precautionary measure. The tragedy in Kasaragod was due to aerial spraying of Endosulfan. A number of countries that have banned Endosulfan have done so as they have very low level of agricultural activities."

What is more interesting is that GOI cited studies published in 2006 for supporting its stand while world has traveled a lot during the last 5 years. If the world community has taken a decision in 2011 to ban this pesticide based on scientific evidence, GOI cannot claim that it is only right in saying there is no safety problem and allowing the use of the chemical in India. Do the Indian citizens have no right to live in a safe environment, compared to those in other countries where the pesticide has been banned? Are they second class denizens in this planet with their lives being dispensable? If the argument of GOI is to be believed, compared to India, other countries banning this pesticide have low agricultural activities! What does this mean? This stand reinforces the need to discontinue use of this chemical immediately in the country because of greater chance for damage among population. Further it has the cheek to say that Endosulfan is not an endocrine disruptor, in spite of massive evidence contradicting this stand! One can only hope that Supreme Court will see through the real intention of GOI, that is to support the pesticide industry and protect the honest citizens of this country from such government supported practices of slow poisoning .

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
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