Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan has directed the Kasaragod district Collector Anand Singh to scrutinise implementation of Endosulfan Victims Relief and Remediation Project in the district.
The directive follows reports about tardy implementation of the Project by The Hindu.
An official spokesman said that the Collector, who is currently in Delhi, had been asked to visit the endosulfan-affected villages for an on the spot review immediately upon his return to the district.
He would examine the effectiveness of the implementation of the project so far and submit a report to the government. The Government would decide on further action on the basis of the report.
The spokesman said that parallel to the scrutiny by the Collector, the Member of the Assembly C. H. Kunhambu would also look into the implementation of the project. This was for obtaining political feedback from the area.
An Endosulfan Victims Relief and Remediation Cell is functioning from the head office of the district panchayat now. However, it is currently facing shortage of funds. The Cell had started functioning with a vision for initiating community based rehabilitation, special schools and pensions to the victims. However, the plans did not take off on account of variety of factors including scattered distribution of the people affected by endosulfan, lack of trained personnel to provide special care and absence of expertise. The families of the mentally and physically challenged persons do not prefer institutional care and the government machinery often failed to reach expert help to their homes.
Many families are using water sources which could still be contaminated. No steps had been taken for decontamination of the water sources or soil, though many years have passed since the effects of endosulfan was first identified.
