The Achuythan committee’s small ‘mistakes’

The industry’s next target was scientists and officials who were on committees that could decide the fate of endosulfan. Almost all of them confessed to Down To Earth that they had been approached by the industry representatives and fed with scientific literature about endosulfan. "Industry representatives approached me many times with a lot of documents, naturally to influence me. But I made it clear that I will just depend on scientific evidence. The representatives came with their so-called scientists and doctors to prove that endosulfan is harmless," says Salam.

Ditto for A Achyuthan, Samuel Mathew (scientist with KAU and member of Achyuthan committee), Thomas George (who did the residue analysis for the KAU team), C S Srinivasan (agriculture secretary) and L Sundaresan (former agriculture director and member of Achyuthan committee). A look at the industry’s dossier is predictable: only selective information about endosulfan is enclosed. Says Achyuthan: "First they (industry representatives) came to my house. But I told them that I would hold discussions only in Kasaragod and not in my house." Industry, however, refutes these allegations. "We never approached the scientists. We only approached the agriculture department," was Dave’s candid reply.

"It is amazing that the industry knew every move of the Achyuthan committee well in advance," says Jayakumar. Just before the Achyuthan committee was to hold a public hearing in Kasaragod on September 5-6, 2001, PMFAI organised a press conference at Kochi on September 4. Three doctors from Mumbai spoke at the press conference and condemned the CSE study and Mohana Kumar. When grilled by newspersons, the doctors admitted that they had not visited Kasaragod or met the affected people.

On August 30, 2001, PMFAI and Excel organised a dinner at the South Park hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, which was attended by senior government officials and KAU scientists. One regional newspaper Madhyamam Daily had an interesting comment to make on this gathering. "Pesticides manufacturers are trying to pull strings at the top to get the ban on endosulfan lifted. The PMFAI and the Excel company has been trying to influence the agricultural experts in the state to take a decision in their favour. For this, they had arranged a dinner in a prominent five-star hotel in Thiruvananthapuram where experts and government officials took part. It is learnt that people in the higher ups, including agricultural experts had taken part. Manufacturers lobby is making all intensive effort to get the ban lifted." In another incident, a freelance filmmaker claims to have accidentally spotted Ganesan, Dave, and Thomas George (who did residue analysis for KAU) at Chaithram hotel, Thiruvananthapuram. George admits having gone to the hotel, but only "to collect some documents regarding endosulfan".

The pesticide lobby also tried to influence civil society groups. Ganesan paid a visit to Ravi Narayan of the Community Health Cell (CHC), Bangalore, who was trying to investigate the health problems in Kasaragod. Ganesan is the general manager with Excel Industries but was introduced to Narayan as a scientific advisor to PMFAI. "They wanted a leisurely meeting with me at some five-star hotel on a Sunday," remembers Narayan. When he declined the offer, Ganesan went to meet Narayan at his office in January. Ganesan had an unbelievable incident to narrate. "CSE chairperson Anil Agarwal admitted that there was a mistake in CSE’s analysis of samples," Ganesan is said to have told Narayan. "They can get away by saying anything because Anil is not there to call their bluff," says Narayan.

If civil society activists could not be won over, the industry tried to strangle their voices. Take the case of Madhumita Dutta. As central coordinator of Toxics Link, a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation, she had made a presentation at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) on March 6-7, 2002 in New Delhi. She spoke about the endosulfan problem in Kerala and how dangerous pesticides are to human health. This was enough for emfa’s Raghavender to write a letter to CII wanting it to expunge her statements. He also wrote to Dutta insisting, "We strongly advice you to refrain from spreading further misinformation on the subject." Such is the insecurity of the pesticide lobby.

The Achyuthan committee submitted its final report in November 2001. "There is no evidence to implicate or exonerate endosulfan as a causative factor of the health problems," it said. But some glaring errors in the report have come to light. The report quotes the remarks made by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, to support the cause of endosulfan. IARI, in fact, made no such remarks. These notes were actually prepared by the PMFAI and submitted to the IARI (see p29). "We committed a mistake," admits Achyuthan. This mistake was one of the basis on which the committee rejected the CSE report, while accepting the KAU and FIPPAT reports.

On the basis of the Achyuthan committee’s findings, PMFAI filed a writ petition in the Kerala High Court to lift the ban on endosulfan in the state. They also tried to use Section 27 of the Insecticides Act of 1968. This act states that the state government can suspend the use of a chemical only for certain period of time and cannot ban it completely. This power rests with the registration committee of the Central Insecticides Board (CIB), Faridabad, Haryana.

It seems that the endosulfan conspirators have won, at least for the time being. The Kerala government lifted the ban on endosulfan on March 22, 2002, based on the recommendations of the Achyuthan committee and the KAU study. It is surprising because lifting the ban was never the mandate of the Achyuthan committee. "We were not asked to comment on the issue of the ban," says Achyuthan. However, the ban on aerial spraying of endosulfan remains. Perla division of PCK (covering Padre and Muliyar villages in Kasaragod district) have been given a pesticide holiday for five years. "When the ban was lifted, the entire state government employees were on strike. It is quite possible that the agriculture secretary who had issued the order might have had to type the order himself," alleges Jayakumar.

The agriculture secretary, C S Srinivasan, — who activists allege is an industry person — also held the additional post of director of agriculture department (February 28 to March 18) when the final decision was taken to lift the ban. When Down To Earth sought an appointment with Srinivasan, he refused. But when the same reporter approached him as a freelance journalist, he readily agreed for an interview. He said that he had just received the NIOH report (it reached him three months ago), but he didn’t have the time to go through it. Maybe Srinivasan just wanted to keep the report out of the media’s reach.

The role of the state’s chief minister, A K Antony, has been quite bizzare. Some activists allege that he is a "dummy" — someone who has been unable to take a principled stand. His government has lifted the ban, even as it sits on the NIOH report, which clearly calls for stopping the use of endosulfan. According to Section 27 of the insecticides act, the state government could have either extended the ban or issued fresh orders to continue the ban. Antony could have also taken up the matter with the Union government on the use of endosulfan. But he did not do so. How can the chief minister be so apathetic to the sufferings of children.

The order itself to lift the ban was a hushed up affair. Even today most people in Kerala are unaware that the ban has been lifted. And to add salt to injury, a fresh batch of endosulfan reached all Krishibhavans in Kerala this month. Kerala’s residents are terrified.

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