The Udupi Zilla Panchayat passed a resolution urging the State Government to conduct a survey to identify persons affected by endosulfan in Udupi district, at its general body meeting here on Tuesday.
Raising the issue, Babu Shetty, member, said that the survey/health check-up camps for identifying those affected by the aerial spraying of the pesticide on cashew plantations had been taken up unscientifically. Though some people were suspected to have been affected due to endosulfan in Kirimanjeshwara village, no health camp was held there. Many villages were getting left out. Even people in the neighbouring villages had been affected due to the aerial spraying done from 1980 to 2000, he said.
Ramachandra Bairy, District Health and Family Welfare Officer, said that his department was doing survey as per the list supplied by the Karnataka Cashew Development Corporation (KCDC).
Ananta Movady, member, said that endosulfan was sprayed on 148 hectares of land in Trasi village, but no survey had been conducted there. People from Trasi, who went to nearby Gujjady village for the health check-up camp, were turned away by the doctors, he said.
Disabled listMr. Shetty said that the survey should be conducted in the entire district as it was an important health issue. The Health Department could also look into list of disabled persons available with the Department of Welfare of Differently Abled Persons, he said.
Dr. Bairy said that more places could be added to the list of villages, where the survey could be undertaken. He, however, said that all cases of mental ailments could not be attributed to endosulfan. He said additional budget would be required to conduct the survey in the entire district. Intervening, Upendra Nayak, ZP president, said that the survey should be conducted in the entire district.
