Pesticide manufacturers are leaving no stone unturned to get the ban on endosulfan lifted and obtain a clean chit for the pesticide. The Supreme Court had banned the sale, manufacture, use and export of the pesticide on May 13 this year. The pesticide makers have submitted a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court, in which they have reiterated their stand that though it is alleged that there are health impacts of endosulfan in Kasaragod and Dakshin Kannada districts in Kerala and Karnataka, there is no causative link established between the pesticide and the health problems.
The case is being heard by the bench comprising chief justice S H Kapadia, Swatantar Kumar and K S P Radhakrishnan. Through the many hearings since May 13, the judges seem inclined to continue ban on endosulfan. They have called for the suggestions from an expert committee and others on the safer alternatives to endosulfan. The next hearing is scheduled for November 10.
FAO, WHO clean chit?
The affidavit states that endosulfan has been wrongly targeted by the petitioners, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI-Kerala wing), the youth wing of CPI (M). According to the manufacturers, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have given a clean chit to endosulfan. So has the interim report of the Supreme Court-appointed joint committee of the director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Agriculture Commissioner.
