The ongoing agitation by mothers of hapless endosulfan victims in the district appears to be picking up momentum with more and more organisations coming forward to express their solidarity with the aggrieved persons. They have accused the State government of having failed to fulfil its assurances on an enhanced relief and rehabilitation package in a time-bound manner.
Most of the assurances by successive governments have remained on paper, driving the victims and their families to frustration, said office-bearers of the Kasaragod People's Forum and leading cultural activists, addressing the mothers of the victims as the strike entered the 10th day on Sunday.
The agitation is sponsored by the Endosulfan Satyagraha Samithi. It was decided at a meeting to launch a massive campaign on May 3 and submit a detailed memorandum enlisting the unfulfilled promises to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy during his visit here on May 10, said forum president M. K. Radhakrishnan, presiding over the fast near the collectorate premises here on Sunday.
Forum activists V. Gopinathan, V.V. Prabhakaran, V.D. Joseph, M. Padmakshan, E. Chandrasekharan Nair, besides social and cultural activists Subaida Neeleswaram, Narayanan Periya, among others, addressed the fasting mothers.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India will observe a day-long hartal on May 5 in areas falling under the worst affected 11 panchayat, where the victims are leading a life of agony and trauma in the aftermath of indiscriminate aerial spraying of endosulfan in the cashew estates of the State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala.
