Sunday, Aug 25, 2002
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
Mr. Achuthanandan, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the CIB's Registration Committee, C. R. Hazra, alleged that this committee, currently on a tour of the affected villages in Kasaragod district, was trying to ``manipulate the evidences in favour of the pesticide industry''. The expert committee is headed by the Additional Director General for Plant Protection, O. P. Dubey, who had revealed himself as an officer with strong biases in favour of the Endosulfan industry, according to Mr. Achuthanandan. To substantiate his charge, he drew Dr. Hazra's attention to the views Dr. Dubey had expressed at a meeting of the CIB's Registration Committee on April 18, this year. This meeting was convened to discuss the issue of the unusual illnesses reportedly produced by Endosulfan spraying in the villages adjoining the cashew plantations of Plantation Corporation of Kerala in Kasaragod district. In the minutes of the meeting, made available to Mr. Achuthanandan, Dr. Dubey is quoted as having expressed serious objections to the findings of certain earlier studies on the issue, conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Health and Centre for Science and Environment. ``From the arguments raised by Dr. Dubey (at the meeting), it becomes amply clear that the expert committee which is presently on a visit to Kerala will never do justice to the hundreds of victims of Endosulfan poisoning in the Kasaragod villages,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said. He said that the manner in which this committee had been doing its study in Kasaragod district was enough to strengthen the misgivings about its biases. It had been making its ``on-the- spot-assessment'' without involving in the exercise the people and public interest organisations of the affected area. This was only to be expected of a body headed by a person who had openly questioned the veracity of the findings of premier scientific institutions that Endosulfan could be the real cause of the health problems in these villages, he alleged. Mr. Achuthanandan asked Dr. Hazra to disband this committee and reconstitute it in such a way as to lend it credibility. The committee should consist of the stake holders in the issue, medical and toxicological experts, representatives of voluntary organisations which had studied the problem and also the people's representatives, he said. He told Dr. Hazra that he had visited the affected villages to study the issue of Endosulfan poisoning in detail. He had also interacted with the doctors and experts, besides talking to many affected people. More than 500 people living in Enmakaje and Mooliyar panchayats were having serious maladies attributed to Endosulfan poisoning. The maladies included various forms of cancer, central nervous system disorders, genetic disorders, asthma, allergy, abortion and infertility, Mr. Achuthanandan said.
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