Kerala's northernmost district cries for attention and care even as activists say the state government is blind to suffering
Published Oct 17, 2022 | 2:52 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 04, 2023 | 8:30 PM
Endosulfan victims and their relatives on a protest in Kasargod. Photo By Madhuraj.
Kerala added two more names to its long list of endosulfan victims on 30 May, 2022.
On that day, 58-year-old Vimalakumari had reportedly picked up a towel and strangled her daughter Reshma, aged 28, to death.
The mother then hanged herself from the ceiling of their house at Chamundikunnu in Kerala’s northernmost Kasaragod district.
A victim of endosulfan who turned physically challenged. (Madhuraj/ Mathrubhumi)
Reshma had been a victim of the killer pesticide. Endosulfan had left her with severe intellectual disabilities and physical health issues.
Their deaths, once again, exposed a lack of institutional care and governmental support to the endosulfan-affected and their families.
Even five months after Vimalakumari, a widow, took the extreme step, no remedial measures have been adopted to prevent such incidents from repeating.
The surviving victims of endosulfan are left with no rehabilitation or daycare facilities. Their parents and relatives say they are on the brink, even as promises remain unfulfilled. The region does not have a proper network of hospitals for emergency access.
Close relatives of the victims, affected by physical and mental deformities, are reeling under extreme stress, anxiety and depression. Social activists, who work among the endosulfan-affected, have noticed suicidal tendencies among the relatives.
“The system is failing them. For the rest of Kerala, these unfortunate people are a liability. The government and civil society are insensitive. Nobody is keen on addressing the issues raised by us,” Amabalathara Kunhikrishnan, leader of the Endosulfan Victims’ Action Council, tells South First.
For the past fortnight, Kunhikrishnan has been in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, along with a section of the affected families to extend solidarity with an ongoing indefinite hunger strike by social activist Daya Bai.
Bai, aged 81, began her strike on October 2, demanding an end to the apathy towards the endosulfan victims and for better healthcare facilities in the region.
Endosulfan victims at a daycare home. (Madhuraj/ Mathrubhumi)
“It seems the government is blind, and senseless,” fumes Kunhikrishnan. He lists out previous occasions in which leaders across the spectrum approached them with false promises of rehabilitation, healthcare and alternative livelihood options.
Promises has been remaining as mere promises. None of them has been met. Even the Supreme Court criticised the Kerala government for its negligent attitude a month ago.
Incidentally, endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide with acute toxicity, was banned globally a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the state government on Sunday, 16 October, expressed willingness to accept 90% of Bai’s demands. The government had earlier in the day deputed ministers R Bindhu and Veena George to hold reconciliatory talks with the social activist.
The activist, however, refused to call off the strike. She demanded a written assurance from the government, saying nothing had materialised from such promises made earlier.
Despite the ban, the region is still suffering from the killer insecticides residual effects of the aerial spraying of the insecticide on the cashew plantations.
Children are still born with swollen heads due to hydrocephalus (the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluids), other physical deformities and mental disorders.
Cancer, cerebral palsy, skin diseases and vision loss, too, are common among the residents of perhaps Kerala’s most underprivileged region. The insecticide was earlier aerial sprayed on the cashew plantations.
According to studies by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, endosulfan is still present in the soil and in sediments at waterbodies in and around the estates of public sector Plantation Corporation of Kerala.
A child victim of the aerial spraying of endosulfan. (Madhuraj/ Mathrubhumi)
The palpable frustration and despondency are disturbing. “We feel death is the final solution. The sufferings are continuing without a solution for three generations,” says Usha Mohan of Kumbadage village.
Usha’s one-year-old daughter Harshitha had died on February 1 at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode after developing congenital disorders, including hydrocephalus.
Kumbadaje, located about 25 kilometres from Kasaragod, the district headquarters, is among 11 gram panchayats notified as endosulfan affected. Harshitha was taken to Kozhikode, nine hours away, because Kasaragod has been lacking a tertiary hospital.
Daya Bai and the victims she represents are demanding the government to establish one of the AIIMS in Kasaragod. The Union government has sanctioned AIIMS to all states, and each state government can decide the location.
“In Kerala, the government has prioritised Kozhikode. The second choice is Ernakulam, and the third, Thiruvananthapuram,” says Bai. “Kozhikode already has two medical college hospitals and several super-speciality hospitals.”
A protest by victims and their families. (Madhuraj/ Mathrubhumi)
Kasaragod can provide 200 acres required for AIIMS. The land is now with the Plantation Corporation of Kerala, which once used endosulfan in its cashew plantations. A policy decision by the government could bring AIIMS to Kasaragod.
People are also demanding daily care centres in all village panchayats and municipalities in Kasaragod to provide relief to the bedridden. Regular medical camps are also needed to detect people newly infected with diseases caused by the pesticide.
“We must spend much money in private hospitals in Mangaluru in neighbouring Karnataka in case of a medical emergency. Despite being recommended by the Supreme Court, a super speciality hospital in Kasaragod remains on paper, says M A Rahman, writer, documentary filmmaker and anti-endosulfan activist.
“There is no other district where people have died gasping on the road, because they did not get treatment on time. We then realised that we have no health infrastructure,” adds Kunhikrishnan.
During the days of peak Covid-19, Kasaragod had emerged as a national model for effective containment. But linguistic and regional chauvinism surfaced, preventing the people from accessing treatment at Mangaluru hospitals.
Battered, numbed and forgotten, the endosulfan victims numbering more than 6,000, are leading a life devoid of hope.
