By TCN News
Thiruvananthapuram: While the representatives of world countries sat together in Geneva and decided to impose a global ban on the dangerous pesticide endosulphan, the southern state of Kerala is rejoicing the victory of its cause. And it revels in the success of the new method of protests in which the whole state including the people and government along with the media fought for a common cause and won. Kerala, in a way, stood above the Indian government in Geneva as the voice of the people of India.
The meeting of the parties of the Stockholm Convention which met in Geneva decided to put a conditional ban on the endosulphan globally. India which is a major producer and exporter of the pesticide had strongly opposed the ban. When its efforts to avoid a ban faced stringent opposition from even friendly nations like Bahrain and Qatar, the Indian representatives in Geneva tried to reach a consensus. But that too failed as even China and Brazil, which also use the pesticide widely, did not support it. At last India also had to agree to the majority opinion of ban, though accepting the conditions put forward by the countries opposing the ban. Countries including India will be allowed a time period of 11 years to completely ban the pesticide.
However, the present decision to ban is only the primary step. Each country should submit a list of agricultural products which need endosulphan. A committee that meets in October will study the list and discuss the scopes of alternatives. It will take about one year for the Parliament to acknowledge the ban. The agreement reached by the countries in this conference should be acknowledged by the respective legislatures of the member countries also. As the pesticide is now banned, each country should report to the Stockholm Convention regarding the stock of the pesticide in the country.
Kerala is in a mood of celebration as the cause it brought forward was accepted and acknowledged by the world, despite the opposition of India. The local protests and strikes in Kasargod to the satyagraha of Chief Minister – everything played its part in bringing the endusulphan as a major environmental issue of the state. The satyagraha of the CM on the first day of the conference was discussed even in Geneva. The LDF also called for a hartal on Friday, when the conference ended. Different studies and reports that depict the tragedies that the endosulphan brought to Kasargod found their place in Geneva also.
However, the global ban may not bring great gains to Kerala, where the dangerous pesticide is already banned. What remains to be done here is the proper rehabilitation of the victims, and the blocking of the continuing flow of the endosulphan into the state despite the ban, etc. But, while all parties and groups are competing to take credit of the global ban, these issues are not much in the air. The state-run Plantation Corporation in whose estates the endosulphan was sprayed from 1978 to 2001 is no more in the picture. The political parties including the left parties, which had earlier opposed the ban even in Kerala, have now emerged as the champions of the ban.
The dangerous pesticide endosulphan was used in the cashew plantations of Kasargod in north Kerala more than a decade. The pesticide was sprayed aerially in the plantation from 1978 to 2001, which resulted in serious after-effects including environmental and health hazards. The victims of the endosulphan have since been in the path of struggle, not only try to erase the bad marks the pesticide had sealed on their lives, but also to bring to light the harmful effects of the poisonous chemical. Social activists, environmental and human rights groups, etc joined their struggle to create awareness about the chemical. The struggle of the people of some villages in Kasargod gradually became the struggle of whole Kerala and now, the voice of the world.