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After killing about 1,000 people, pushing nearly 10,000 others into lives stricken by mysterious diseases and forcing women to terminate pregnancies for fear of delivering babies with congenital diseases and deformities, poison pesticide Endosulfan is now causing social destabilization in Kasaragod, Kerala’s northernmost district.
Parents are disallowing their children to enter into marital relationships with boys and girls in the 11 Endosulfan-hit panchayats of Kasaragod district. Even boys and girls living within the affected villages are asking their prospective brides and bridegrooms to undergo medical tests before marriages.
“I may not have any statistical records with me, but I can tell you that the number of marriages taking place in this village has come down drastically, say, in the last five years,” says Nalini, a 40-year-old woman in Enmakaje, the panchayat worst hit by Endosulfan in the whole world. “People just don’t want to get into relationships with us,” she says.
Nalini says she knows at least half a dozen incidents of marriage proposals being aborted in the last minute in her neighborhood in the past one year because of the fear of people from outside to get into relationship with those in Enmakaje. “The reason is that people don’t want their boys or girls to have children with congenital diseases,” she points out.
According to anti-Endosulfan campaigners, the pesticide-hit panchayats “are being pushed into isolation socially, culturally and medically”. “People don’t want their children to have marital relationships in these areas. They fear that the offspring would have congenital health problems,” says Sudhakaran, an anti-pesticide activist.
“I don’t blame them. Children are being born here with disorders like hydrocephalus, early maturing if the child is a girl, late or no maturing if the child is a boy, convoluted limbs, etc all because of this poison that is still moving through our veins and arteries, the soil, water and air,” said Sudhakaran.
Kerala banned Endosulfan a decade ago after serious health problems and deaths began to occur due to its two-decade-long aerial spraying by the State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala in its cashew estates in these 11 panchayats. Kasaragod was in the forefront of agitation to force the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants for the global ban on the pesticide.
Anti-Endosulfan activists and people of the affected villages say that dozens of marriage proposals have got aborted in the past few years either due to the refusal of people from outside to get into relationship with those here or due to the refusal of the parents here to subject their boys and girls to medical tests to prove that they don’t have Endosulfan in their bloodstreams.
“Such sad things are happening even in cases of proposals where the bride and groom are from this same area itself,” says Nalini. “In such cases, it is normal these days for both the sides to ask for medical records of the other and this is reason enough for the break of the proposal,” she adds.
The Pioneer had earlier reported that more and more women of these Endosulfan-hit panchayats are opting for termination of their pregnancies for fear of the possibility of their babies having congenital disorders.
“Surprisingly, the attention of the authorities have not yet fallen on this tragedy though they have already conducted several studies on the Endosulfan-induced health problems,” said Pradeep, another anti-Endosulfan crusader. “This area has already become an isolated island. Even those who come here to study the problems would not drink the water from our wells,” he adds.
Parents are disallowing their children to enter into marital relationships with boys and girls in the 11 Endosulfan-hit panchayats of Kasaragod district. Even boys and girls living within the affected villages are asking their prospective brides and bridegrooms to undergo medical tests before marriages.
“I may not have any statistical records with me, but I can tell you that the number of marriages taking place in this village has come down drastically, say, in the last five years,” says Nalini, a 40-year-old woman in Enmakaje, the panchayat worst hit by Endosulfan in the whole world. “People just don’t want to get into relationships with us,” she says.
Nalini says she knows at least half a dozen incidents of marriage proposals being aborted in the last minute in her neighborhood in the past one year because of the fear of people from outside to get into relationship with those in Enmakaje. “The reason is that people don’t want their boys or girls to have children with congenital diseases,” she points out.
According to anti-Endosulfan campaigners, the pesticide-hit panchayats “are being pushed into isolation socially, culturally and medically”. “People don’t want their children to have marital relationships in these areas. They fear that the offspring would have congenital health problems,” says Sudhakaran, an anti-pesticide activist.
“I don’t blame them. Children are being born here with disorders like hydrocephalus, early maturing if the child is a girl, late or no maturing if the child is a boy, convoluted limbs, etc all because of this poison that is still moving through our veins and arteries, the soil, water and air,” said Sudhakaran.
Kerala banned Endosulfan a decade ago after serious health problems and deaths began to occur due to its two-decade-long aerial spraying by the State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala in its cashew estates in these 11 panchayats. Kasaragod was in the forefront of agitation to force the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants for the global ban on the pesticide.
Anti-Endosulfan activists and people of the affected villages say that dozens of marriage proposals have got aborted in the past few years either due to the refusal of people from outside to get into relationship with those here or due to the refusal of the parents here to subject their boys and girls to medical tests to prove that they don’t have Endosulfan in their bloodstreams.
“Such sad things are happening even in cases of proposals where the bride and groom are from this same area itself,” says Nalini. “In such cases, it is normal these days for both the sides to ask for medical records of the other and this is reason enough for the break of the proposal,” she adds.
The Pioneer had earlier reported that more and more women of these Endosulfan-hit panchayats are opting for termination of their pregnancies for fear of the possibility of their babies having congenital disorders.
“Surprisingly, the attention of the authorities have not yet fallen on this tragedy though they have already conducted several studies on the Endosulfan-induced health problems,” said Pradeep, another anti-Endosulfan crusader. “This area has already become an isolated island. Even those who come here to study the problems would not drink the water from our wells,” he adds.
