Rehabilitate Endosulfan victims

BANGALORE: Promoting the publication of reports on the ill-effects of endosulfan in Indian Council of Media Research (ICMR) journal, the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, K V Rajanna said, “Once the study is published in official publications of the Government, it will have a wider impact leading to its nationwide banning.” Addressing the media on Tuesday, Rajanna said that besides Kasargod, samples of water, fish and soil collected in the taluk of Puttur, Bantwal and Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district also indicate effects of endosulfan.Stating that banning is not enough, Rajanna said that rehabilitation of victims is also imperative. “Presently, they have been provided a compensation of `50,000. A day care centre for those affected has been opened in Belthangady taluk on June 19 which should have actually started twenty years back,” he added.Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag, President, Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi said, “During a survey conducted in three taluks in Puttur, Buntwal and Belthangady by NSS volunteers from three colleges for a period of three months, it was surprising to find that about 6,000 people in these taluks are suffering from some form of disability.Now the doctors need to confirm whether it is as a result of endosulfan.” Ravindranath added that according to information received from a women’s organisation there are about 4,000 pregnant women in these three taluks but there is no facility available to them that can ascertain whether their unborn babies suffer from abnormalities.