Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly two decades after pesticide endosulfan caused congenital defects in newborns in Kasargod district, mothers of the children are still waging a relentless battle for adequate compensation and justice.
As they get ready for another round of talks with the government here on Wednesday, the women who are on an indefinite strike in front of the state secretariat, said they are in a 'do or die' situation and cannot go back to their villages without making the government accept their demands.
They are asking the government what would be the future of their ill children, who suffered all their life for no fault of theirs, after their death.
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Initially when they gave birth to the children, the women thought it was the curse of the Serpent God. But when more and more kids were born with abnormally swollen heads, shrunken brains and crippled limbs, they realised it was not the God's will, but environmental pollution caused by endosulfan.
Since then, mothers of the victims in the district, where thousands have been affected due to aerial spraying of the chemical in plantations of Kerala Cashew Corporation two decades ago, have been fighting for rights of their children.
Expert studies have said that endosulfan, which is not easily degradable, contaminated the soil and water in many villages there and found its way into the food chain, affecting lower and higher forms of life, including humans.
The latest in their struggles is the indefinite sit-in in front of the Secretariat which began here on January 26.
Over 80 endosulfan affected children and their mothers have begun the stir, seeking immediate disbursal of the compensation and implementation of a rehabilitation package.
Though a meeting was held between Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and state Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan in this regard last week, it failed to arrive at a consensus.