Kerala snubbed by 20 states in endosulfan ban

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 4: Looks like the fight against the killer pesticide Endosulfan is far from over. With Kerala suffering the worst impact of the pesticide that has seen the death of close to 400 people and with many more crippled for life in the devastating impact of the chemical, Kerala's appeal for a country wide ban of endosulfan has apparently fallen on deaf ears.

With the former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan vociferously campaigning for the ban and writing to all chief ministers calling for a unanimous voice, the move was opposed by close to 20 states in a meeting convened by the Union agriculture ministry in Delhi.

In spite of the former Kerala CM sensitizing his counterparts in other states and the Centre of the harmful repercussions that endosulfan could cause in many generations to come, the effort did not bear fruit. Karnataka, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh that had earlier called for a ban made a u-turn and did a volte face on the issue.

Representatives from various states even opposed Kerala's argument that the pesticide caused serious health problems by saying that they haven't ignored any such issues. Their point being that the pesticide was more effective than many other one's available in the market and cost-efficient.

Experts have suggested that the states non-support would impact the nationwide ban on the killer endosulfan. The Supreme Court had earlier banned the pesticide for eight weeks but with the latest turn of events, the ban might not continue.

OneIndia News