Kerala - Kozhikode   

‘No scientific basis for reports'

Kozhikode: The Chakittapara panchayat on Monday refuted media reports which attributed incidence of deformities and chronic ailments in the panchayat to endosulfan and other chemical pesticides.

Panchayat president K. Sunil and vice-president Subaida Majid said in a statement that the reports had triggered a mad rush by people affected by various diseases to claim benefits that were likely to be sanctioned by the government for endosulfan victims.

They said the reports being published by a section of the media had no scientific basis and that the place which was sought to be portrayed as a region affected by endosulfan-poisoning was 13 km away from the Perambra Estate of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala where the corporation had used 35 litres of endosulfan in 2002 and 2003 using a hand-pump.

“The charge that one of the persons who sprayed endosulfan fell sick a year later is obviously far fetched,” the panchayat president said.

He said the media reports had created aversion and suspicions in the outside world about the people in the panchayat. “It has affected marriage proposals and might even create a panic since it is from a reservoir here that drinking water is distributed to Kozhikode city,” Mr. Sunil said.

The panchayat president said Chakittapara already had a very effective and efficient palliative care network which was helping the chronically ill and bedridden patients. The panchayat also was making optimum use of funds allotted for health care. “So we are shocked by the media reports which have absolutely no basis in scientific investigation,” he said.

Besides Mr. Sunil and Ms. Majid, panchayat members Asok George, Sujatha Manakkal, Aavala Hamed, C.K. Sasi and Daisy Joseph also expressed surprise at the media reports in their joint statement but promised they would make use of all opportunities to tap State and Central government funds to mitigate sufferings of the bedridden and chronically ill patients in their panchayat.

Plea to government

A fact-finding visit by a team sent by K.A. Keraleeyan Memorial Committee has claimed it has found victims of chemical pesticides at Muthukad in Chakittapara panchayat and appealed to the government to arrange for medical and financial support for them.

The team visited the place in response to newspaper reports which said use of endosulfan had led to genetic disorders and other diseases among residents in Chakkittapara.

The team headed by K.K.N. Kurup, former Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University, claimed to have found a number of patients suffering from diseases that were reportedly caused by chemical pesticides, including endosulfan.

The team also reported that the “victims of pesticides” were under great psychological stress and alleged there had been well-planned attempt by vested interests to communalise the problem.

“There should be a scientific study into the health scene, particularly the effects of use of endosulfan, in Chakittapara panchayat,” the team demanded.

It found the “pesticide victims” were workers and former workers of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala, their dependants and neighbours. Two women, they talked to and identified as Elikuttyamma and Ammukutty, were former workers of the corporation. They said their job was to spray chemical pesticides.

Besides Dr. Kurup, the study team consisted of I.V. Sasankan, general secretary, All India Kisan Sabha; P. Vijayaraghavan, general secretary, All India Solidarity Committee; and NSS volunteers from C.K.G. Memorial Government College.

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