Endosulfan blamed for blindness

KASARGOD: The villagers of Panaje in Puttur Taluk on the Kerala-Karnataka border blame the aerial spraying of endosulfan by the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) for the blindness suffered by 15 school children in the area.Villagers blame the PCK for the blindness of the children studying in Panaje Primary School. The signs of the symptoms were noticed a few years ago, but nobody followed up and there was no proper documentation of the blindness.Abubacker Arlapadavu, a Malayali and social activist in the village said the villagers of Swarga and adjacent areas did not want to talk about it fearing social stigma.E Eshawar Bhat, secretary of the Gadinadu Sheyobhivradhi Trust, said that the problems were caused by the aerial spraying of endosulfan in the border areas of Kasargod by the PCK. The aerial distance between Panaje from the endosulfan-sprayed village in Kasargod district is only 1.5 km, he added.According to Eshawar Bhat, the government should study the problem and compensate the victims. He said the villagers have been saying that the children lost their vision because of the spraying of endosulfan in the neighbourhood.“The Karnataka government had sprayed endosulfan in all its border areas. The villagers of Karnataka are blaming the PCK because the Karnataka government had not paid any compensation to the alleged victims,” said K Zubair Khan, Managing Director of the PCK.He said more alleged victims of endosulfan are demanding compensation. Recently, newspapers published details about endosulfan diseases in Chakkittapara in Kozhikode district.It was only 70 litres of endouslafan which was sprayed in Chakkittapara and yet they said a lot of people were hit by various diseases because of the endosulfan use. Now more people are demanding compensation, he added.A Abdullah of Arlapavadu, a border village, has five children, but three of them are blind. But according to social activists, he married his uncle’s daughter and therefore it may be caused by consanguineous marriage. But doctors differ on the cause of the blindness. While Dr Sriprakash of the Minto Eye Hospital in Mangalore said that patients loss vision due to exposure to chemicals, Dr Bhjunag Shetty of the NarayanaNethrayala said there were no reports that endsosulfan caused blindness.