Soon after the Supreme Court ordered the interim ban on endosulfan on May 13, the agriculture ministry issued letters to the different departments, the following day, for the compliance of the nation wide ban.
Old wine in new bottle The Supreme Court on February 8 this year had ordered the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to reconstitute its scientific panel. The apex food regulatory body had inducted members from the food industry, defeating it's very purpose of regulating the food industry. Of the eight scientific panels, seven had 18 members from big food businesses.
It was a shocker. Out of the 21 states that attended a meeting at the agriculture commissioner's office, 20 opposed the ban on endosulfan and this included Karnataka, that has already banned endosulfan in the state and Madhya Pradesh, whose agriculture minister had sent a letter to the centre supporting Kerala's ex chief minister VS Achuthanandan's call for a nationwide ban on endosulfan.
HIL's (Hindustan Insecticide Limited) licence to produce endosulfan was cancelled by the Kerala government on May 27. The Gujarat agriculture department too has seized the permit of nearly 80 endosulfan manufacturing and formulating units in the state.
The last day of the Stockholm Convention, ushered some good news for all those crusading against endosulfan in India. Endosulfan has finally been brought under the Annex A of the Stockholm Convention, which means that Endosulfan should be banned globally. India softened its stand and agreed to the listing without any opposition. This was a welcome move as India had become almost notorious for opposing any ban on endosulfan in the international arena ever since it was introduced as a persistent organic pollutant in the fourth Stockholm Convention in 2008.
Its been a week since the Supreme Court issued the order for the interim ban on endosulfan. There is no official confirmation on the joint committee yet, when they have to present the interim report within 8 weeks, from May 13, to the Supreme Court. It is after the interim report is submitted will the apex court take a final call on whether the pesticide should be allowed or banned.
The Supreme Court, on May 13, passed an ad-interim order to ban the manufacture, sale and use of Endosulfan with immediate effect across the country. It also issued an order for a joint committee of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Agriculture Commissioner for a study on the health impacts of endosulfan within 8 weeks.
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Calls it a 'resounding defeat' for pesticide industry which has been promoting this deadly toxin
The numbers of people affected by nearly 20 years of aerial spray of Endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide, in the cashew plantations in Kasaragod, the northern most district of Kerala is increasing. While the focus earlier was on Padre village, the health impacts are evident in people of nearly 11 panchayats in the district. Victims here are suffering from congenital deformities, physical disabilities, mental retardation and gynecological problems. The same health impacts are now being seen in the neighboring Dakshin Kanada district in Karnataka as well.
India changes its position on endosulfan at the Stockholm Convention It softens its stand and agrees that endosulfan is a health hazard. It agrees to a ban on the pesticide.
Pesticide industry body loses defamation case against CSE, twice
At the sixth meeting of Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) to the Stockholm Convention (Geneva Oct 11-15), India once again opposed a global ban on the manufacture, use, import and export of endosulfan. Of the 29 members in the review committee, 24 supported the ban and four (Germany, Ghana, Nigeria and China) abstained.
The Union environment ministry has proposed a five member expert committee to study the ill-effects of endosulfan. Union minister of state for environment, Jairam Ramesh, announced the panel after meeting Kerala forest minister Benoy Viswam on November 1.