Monday, September 12, 2011

Call for Indian ban on pesticide linked to birth defects

8 September 2011

The Indian supreme court is due to decide on the use of a controversial pesticide blamed for causing neurological and congenital deformities in babies. 

The court has already imposed a temporary ban across India, but the government in Delhi says Endosulfan is a cheap and effective pesticide, and there is not enough evidence to outlaw it nationally. 

The southern state of Kerala, where Endosulfan was regularly sprayed from helicopters, brought in a ban 11 years ago - but campaigners say it is still having an impact on the lives of children born today. 

Rupa Jha reports from Kasargod in Kerala.