About this site

The endosulfan disaster in Kerala was one of the worst examples of public health impacts of pesticides.  The disaster happened due to the illegal aerial spraying of endosulfan in the cashew plantations in Kasaragod District in the South Indian State of Kerala over 20 years from 1978. Consequent to this, a complex of severe health outcomes hitherto unknown, were noted among the community in Kasaragod since early 1980s, which includes congenital anomalies, physical deformities, neurological disorders, mental health impairments, disorders related to hormonal irregularities, defective reproductive health, developmental health disorders, different types of cancers, respiratory and immune systems disorders.

Many studies that have proved presence of endosulfan residues in human blood as well as environmental samples at alarmingly high level. Vested interest groups are still asking for evidence of contamination and were terming endosulfan as a “safe” pesticide and repeatedly trying to protect corporate interests over public health and safety concerns. Still, even a decade after the national ban of endosulfan in India and the decision for global phase-out internationally, many are constantly argue that endosulfan was not the actual cause of the disaster. Over the course, many documents that assessed the endosulfan use, health effects, and community struggles including government reports, became not available in the public domain. With this gap in the availability of stories on the ground realities, the arguments made by vested interest groups that ‘endosulfan is a safe pesticide’ gains momentum in various discussions.

This web site is an effort of Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India to collate information, documents and reports on the issue of endosulfan in Kerala and to make it available publicly. This site is currently being populated with the relevant information on the issue of endosulfan in Kerala.