(Madan Menon Thottasseri)
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Our people who have celebrated the approval of the recommendation for elimination of production and use of Endosulfan by Stockholm Convention at Geneva are still not aware of the constraints faced by state governments which had banned the pesticide. A national level ban will take time as the central government still awaits the report of ICMR. Further the ban is to be formally ratified by the Parliament.
The formalities in respect of arriving at the compliance mechanism for banned persistent organic pollutants and financial assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the treaty obligations are still underway. We cannot expect Indian government expedite its home work on ban to avoid hanging on issues for first five years and then to seek renewal of exemptions for the next phase of five years. Taking into account the period of one year for affecting the listing, the phase- out period may get stretched for eleven years! Further it will be a distant dream to identify a cost effective alternative to Endosulfan.
Unfortunately exemption will be covered to majority of crops other than Cashew and thus it will be a herculean task for Kerala and Karnataka governments to clamp ban in remote regions for few more years. Lobbying by the pesticide industry will attempt to prevail on the regime to extend the usage for the next 11 full years! Probably this threat can be overcome if there is a concerted mission around the globe for identifying alternatives to Endosulfan.
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan may have to take forward the on-going protests against Endosulfan by interacting with Public Interest groups in other countries, especially in China, Uganda and Indonesia where the usage of Endosulfan will be continued for various crops as in the case of India. These nations too had joined with India in the Stockholm convention on POPs at Geneva for a compromise while accepting the ban on Endosulfan with exemptions. Even the Public Interest Groups in Philippines, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea and Sri Lanka will still be vigilant for ensuring the immediate implementation of the ban in their respective nations and also for preventing smuggling of the pesticide in disguise from overseas. Peoples’ forums and student communities through-out our country have to be imparted knowledge on the issue. Waging war against the use of the deadly pesticide Endosulfan will certainly continue to get a place in the agenda of V.S. Achuthanandan together with his never ending anti-corruption campaigns.
Smuggling of Endosulfan into Kerala is frequent and unfortunately the State’s agriculture officers are not empowered to enforce any ban on this under the Insecticides Act. Agriculture officers may have right to stop anyone using it upon detecting possession of the pesticide. But they cannot prevent smuggling of the pesticides through any mode of transport. Thus Endosulfan cannot be totally eliminated unless there is a national or global ban. This is similar to the smuggling of Banned Endosulfan into Malaysia from the neighboring Thailand. The pesticide continues to be in use in the paddy fields of Kedah, Malaysia which had raised concerns to the Malaysian regime about its implementation of the ban and the consequent health hazards posed by farmers and consumers. Malaysia is struggling to contain the smuggling of Endosulfan from Thailand and its distribution in ingenious ways.
The hassles of endosulfan and its usage in remote areas of Kerala and Karnataka due to smuggling from across the state boundaries’ will be a routine matter. In places where there are organized trade unions which educate workers on the dangers of deadly pesticides like Endosulfan, the smuggling of the pesticide from outside the state and its usage will not be possible. But if the communities are not adequately educated on the ill effects of Endosulfan and are not organized, there will be tendencies for smuggling as well as secrete usage of the pesticide.
As commented by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, probably India must give a thrust for genetic modifications in cultivation of a host of crops which have to facilitate to dispose of Pesticides. We may have to adopt new technologies backed with adequate safety measures and should not be technophobic.
It is not uncommon to see certain communities in remote villages in inter-state borders of all states, live in isolation from the mainstream population of the region. Majority of them being linguistic minorities will be reading news papers of a different language and will primarily watch television programmes of the language across the state border. Unfortunately such people will never come to know on certain important social issues and governmental restrictions to overcome the same while they are not used to listen to the AIR news or Television News of the home state. The concerned state should be aware of this anomaly and it has an obligation to take measures for educating people in remote places on the latest governmental orders in respect of important issues like the ban of Endosulfan.
Local bodies of the region must arrange for public announcement of such ban orders and should also distribute brochures in languages usually spoken and read by the communities in enclaves, seeking the support of people for effective implementation of the same.
The formalities in respect of arriving at the compliance mechanism for banned persistent organic pollutants and financial assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the treaty obligations are still underway. We cannot expect Indian government expedite its home work on ban to avoid hanging on issues for first five years and then to seek renewal of exemptions for the next phase of five years. Taking into account the period of one year for affecting the listing, the phase- out period may get stretched for eleven years! Further it will be a distant dream to identify a cost effective alternative to Endosulfan.
Unfortunately exemption will be covered to majority of crops other than Cashew and thus it will be a herculean task for Kerala and Karnataka governments to clamp ban in remote regions for few more years. Lobbying by the pesticide industry will attempt to prevail on the regime to extend the usage for the next 11 full years! Probably this threat can be overcome if there is a concerted mission around the globe for identifying alternatives to Endosulfan.
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan may have to take forward the on-going protests against Endosulfan by interacting with Public Interest groups in other countries, especially in China, Uganda and Indonesia where the usage of Endosulfan will be continued for various crops as in the case of India. These nations too had joined with India in the Stockholm convention on POPs at Geneva for a compromise while accepting the ban on Endosulfan with exemptions. Even the Public Interest Groups in Philippines, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea and Sri Lanka will still be vigilant for ensuring the immediate implementation of the ban in their respective nations and also for preventing smuggling of the pesticide in disguise from overseas. Peoples’ forums and student communities through-out our country have to be imparted knowledge on the issue. Waging war against the use of the deadly pesticide Endosulfan will certainly continue to get a place in the agenda of V.S. Achuthanandan together with his never ending anti-corruption campaigns.
Smuggling of Endosulfan into Kerala is frequent and unfortunately the State’s agriculture officers are not empowered to enforce any ban on this under the Insecticides Act. Agriculture officers may have right to stop anyone using it upon detecting possession of the pesticide. But they cannot prevent smuggling of the pesticides through any mode of transport. Thus Endosulfan cannot be totally eliminated unless there is a national or global ban. This is similar to the smuggling of Banned Endosulfan into Malaysia from the neighboring Thailand. The pesticide continues to be in use in the paddy fields of Kedah, Malaysia which had raised concerns to the Malaysian regime about its implementation of the ban and the consequent health hazards posed by farmers and consumers. Malaysia is struggling to contain the smuggling of Endosulfan from Thailand and its distribution in ingenious ways.
The hassles of endosulfan and its usage in remote areas of Kerala and Karnataka due to smuggling from across the state boundaries’ will be a routine matter. In places where there are organized trade unions which educate workers on the dangers of deadly pesticides like Endosulfan, the smuggling of the pesticide from outside the state and its usage will not be possible. But if the communities are not adequately educated on the ill effects of Endosulfan and are not organized, there will be tendencies for smuggling as well as secrete usage of the pesticide.
As commented by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, probably India must give a thrust for genetic modifications in cultivation of a host of crops which have to facilitate to dispose of Pesticides. We may have to adopt new technologies backed with adequate safety measures and should not be technophobic.
It is not uncommon to see certain communities in remote villages in inter-state borders of all states, live in isolation from the mainstream population of the region. Majority of them being linguistic minorities will be reading news papers of a different language and will primarily watch television programmes of the language across the state border. Unfortunately such people will never come to know on certain important social issues and governmental restrictions to overcome the same while they are not used to listen to the AIR news or Television News of the home state. The concerned state should be aware of this anomaly and it has an obligation to take measures for educating people in remote places on the latest governmental orders in respect of important issues like the ban of Endosulfan.
Local bodies of the region must arrange for public announcement of such ban orders and should also distribute brochures in languages usually spoken and read by the communities in enclaves, seeking the support of people for effective implementation of the same.
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