Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has said that a comprehensive detoxification drive would be undertaken in Endosulfan-hit Kasaragod district, with focus on purifying water resources and farm fields from the grip of harmful pesticides. The drive will formally be launched on December 3, he said, while inaugurating the four-day Malabar Agro Fest-2010 at Swapana Nagari in Kozhikode on Thursday.
Mr. Ratnakaran said technical and financial support of the Central government would be sought for the successful completion of the drive. “A detailed project report is now getting ready under the aegis of the State government as part of efforts to make Kasaragod a pesticide-free district,” he said.
According to Mr. Ratnakaran, with the completion of the proposed drive, Kasaragod would emerge as a model district in pioneering mass drives against pesticides. Gradually, it would also be the first organic district in the State, he claimed.
The Minister asked the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) to help with the rehabilitation drive for Endosulfan victims with their own packages. The PCK Board should take efforts to win approval for the same in its forthcoming board meeting, he said.
The Minister also urged the Centre to grant legal powers to the State to ban manufacture and trade of highly toxic pesticides. The State governments should be given powers to make strong interventions in the field, he pointed out.
Later speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, the Minister affirmed that no agriculture firm functioning under the control of the government would store or supply Endosulfan in the future. He said initiatives of the Kerala government would near fruition only when neighbouring States too adopted a similar stance against the pesticide.
