By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress party in Kerala has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that India supports the global ban on endosulphan at the Stockholm Convention to be held in Geneva April 25-29.
Speaking to reporters here Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy said he has written to Manmohan Singh to make him aware of the grave dangers posed by the use of endosulphan in Kasargode district.
“The use of endosulphan over the years has caused the death of around 1,000 people and affected around 10,000 with serious mental and physical diseases besides deformities. Several studies have shown that the use of endosulphan has been the cause for it,” says Chandy’s letter. His letter comes only a week ahead of the 5th Conference of Parties of the Stockholm Convention.
Eighty-one countries have banned this chemical or are in the process of phasing out its use.
“In this context I wish to bring to your kind attention that in the Review Committee of the same convention in October 2010, the Indian delegation had objected to the global ban of endosulphan, which was shocking to us. The Ministry of Agriculture has been relying upon a few biased studies that do not reflect the ground realities,” reads the letter.
The use of endosulphan in the estates owned by the state-run Plantation Corporation, Kerala (PCK) in Kasargode began in the early seventies and continued till 2001. The damaging effects of endosulphan had begun to show up in around 11 villages in this district. The previous Congress government banned the use of endosulphan.
Surveys conducted in the district show that close to a thousand marriages failed to materialize because one of the partners belonged to the areas where endosulphan was used.
“The people of Kerala are keenly awaiting the decision of the government of India supporting the global ban of endosulphan at the convention. Therefore I request you to kindly intervene and ensure that the Indian delegation supports the global ban of endosulphan,” says the letter