Endosulfan victims case:

• The Supreme Court has slammed the Kerala government for State’s inaction in providing relief to the Endosulfan pesticide exposure victims.
• From the mid-70s, Kerala villages used aerial spraying of endosulfan on 4,600-ha. cashew nut plantation. Locals reportedly experienced illnesses, palsies and deformities.
• This also amounts to a breach of the apex court’s 2017 judgment, which had ordered the State to pay ₹5 lakh each to the victims in three months.

What is endosulfan?

• It is a widely-banned pesticide with hazardous effects on human genetic and endocrine systems.
• It does not occur naturally in the environment.
• It is listed under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent.
• Use of endosulfan is banned by Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
• The Supreme Court in India has banned the manufacture, sale, use, and export of endosulfan throughout the country, citing its harmful health effects in 2011.
• Uses: Sprayed on crops like cotton, cashew, fruits, tea, paddy, tobacco etc. for control of pests in agriculture such as whiteflies, aphids, beetles, worms etc.
• Effects on humans: This pesticide is a known carcinogen, neurotoxin and genotoxin (damages DNA).
• Environmental effects: Endosulfan in the environment gets accumulated in food chains leading to higher doses causing problems.