pesticide exposureNew Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) An independent fact-finding team,which probed the recent pesticide poisoning in Tamil Nadu'sPerambalur and Ariyalur districts, today accused the stategovernment of inaction in preventing deaths and sufferings offarmers and farm workers.
Around 200 people have been, reportedly, hospitalised inthe past two months and at least four persons died in threedistricts of Tamil Nadu, including Perambalur and Ariyalur,after exposure to pesticides.
"Neither relief, nor concrete preventive measures havebeen taken by the government. This situation was highlypreventable, had the government banned such pesticides and ifecological alternatives were taught to farmers for cropprotection," the team said in a release.
The team comprising members from Swaraj Abhiyan, non-profit Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture(ASHA), Safe Food Alliance and People's Union for CivilLiberties and others met the affected families and thegovernment officials concerned during a visit to the districtsbetween November 4 and 6, said Kavitha Kuruganti of ASHA.
"Many families have incurred unaffordable expenses onmedical care. We demand the state government pay an ex-gratiaamount of at least Rs 10 lakh for families of the dead, and Rstwo lakh for the hospitalised. The government should alsorecover these amounts from the pesticides industry," the teamsuggested.
The team also suggested the government to take upawareness campaigns on the ill-effects of pesticides, symptomsof pesticide poisonings and alternatives to be adopted byfarmers. PTI CPBABH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.