Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan ended his day-long fast demanding ban on endosulfan at 5 pm on Monday.
He took lime juice from poet Sugathakumari to end his fast which began at 10 am. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that India’s stand against the global ban on endosulfan at the conference of parties of the Stockholm Convention was deplorable.
Earlier, a gathering of more than 1000 people including a few hundred people who had joined the fast took the pledge to fight the menace of endosulfan. They said that they would work to eliminate the use of the pesticide in the country. Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran administered the pledge.
Besides a national ban on endosulfan, the Chief Minister demanded that India should support a global ban on endosulfan. The Centre should also provide assistance to the State to compensate the victims aerial spraying of endosulfan in the cashew plantations of State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala.
