Bhopal: Way Ahead
DURING 1969-84, Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) mainly produced three pesticides namely sevin (carbaryl), temik (aldicarb) and sevidol, which is a formulation of carbaryl and gammahexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH).
Anderson's Extradition & Approval for a Memorial
A Delhi court of the chief metropolitan magistrate gave the green signal to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 23 to extradite former Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) chairperson Warren Anderson- an accused in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy case, now based in US. Anderson, now 90, has never faced trial in the Bhopal gas tragedy case.
CSE responds to pesticide industry advertisement published in the guise of public interest appeal in a major national daily.
Pesticide regulation is clearly about high stakes. The stakes concern our health and our bodies
Senior Scientist for Pollution Monitoring Laboratory
The Centre for Science and Environment, an established institution known for its rigorous and scientific policy research and advocacy on environmental issues is looking for a Senior Scientist for its state of the art laboratory for monitoring pollution and toxins.
When battered people took on the pesticide industry
Today, I want to tell you a true story of extraordinary courage. The past week, I was in Kasaragod, a district in Kerala, splendid in beauty and with abundant natural resources, but destroyed by the toxic chemical, endosulfan. The pesticide was aerially sprayed over cashew plantations, for some 20 years, in complete disregard of the fact that there is no demarcation between plantations and human habitation in this area. It is also a high rainfall region and so, the sprayed pesticide leached into the ground and flowed downstream.
Joint Committee's First Meeting Today
The Supreme Court appointed joint committee, headed by ICMR director general VM Katoch and Agriculture Commissioner Gurbachan Singh met for the first time on June 23. This was after five weeks of its appointment. The heads of the committee revealed that they will meet again on July 6-7.
The Ban of Endosulfan and After
Two Turnabouts, A Joint Committee and Some Violations Friday the 13th wasn't bad after all. The Supreme Court on May 13, passed an ad-interim order to ban with immediate effect the manufacture, sale and use of endosulfan throughout the country, citing its harmful health effects. The court also directed the statutory authorities to seize the permits given to endosulfan manufacturers till further orders.
Companies Failed to Surrender Registration Certificates
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.
Endosulfan Industry's Dirty War - A Chronology of events
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.
CSE responds to the endosulfan industry's bullying tactics
I thought I should let you know about the recent attacks against us by the pesticide industry. You will recall, we had way back in 2001 analyzed samples of soil, water and blood from Padre village in Kerala to check for contamination. We went there because local doctors and activists wrote about the horrific diseases and abnomalities in this region. We tested and found high levels of endosulfan pesticide.
Endosulfan poisoning in Padre village: Industry's dirty tactics
Pesticide industry body loses defamation case against CSE, twice
India holds on to Endosulfan
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 venom is spreading...
Endosulfan is claiming new victims, though a state government survey puts the total number of affected at just a little over 2,000 people in 11 gram panchayats of Kasaragod. Years after the pesticide was banned in Kerala, it is creeping into newer areas – a Down To Earth investigation has tracked down more cases in Muthalamada panchayat in Palakkad district, while reports are coming in of endosulfan-affected people from villages and hamlets located far away from regions where the pesticide was sprayed.
Responses to Sunita Narain's Letter
Press Note: After CSE, CPCB also finds UCIL site highly contaminated
On October 29, 2009, scientists from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)-Pollution Monitoring Laboratory had jointly collected soil samples from inside the former Union Carbide plant at Bhopal.
BHOPAL: A TOXIC LEGACY
Now Bhopal is a metaphor for disaster, industrial and human. It has been the object of much speculation and typically endless litigation, including the latest travesty of justice.