Achuthanandan on fast for pesticide ban
Kerala Chief Minister stages a seven-hour fast to demand a nation-wide ban on endosulphan
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Monday staged a seven-hour fast to demand a nation-wide ban on endosulphan, a highly toxic pesticide.
He began his fast at 10am along with a few cabinet colleagues. The fast was staged to coincide with the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, which began in Geneva yesterday. India has decided it will not support a call for a ban on the pesticide at the convention, which ends on Friday, a Left leader said.
Activists of the ruling Left Democratic Front held protests in 13 districts of the state. Achuthanandan said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tackling of the issue was deplorable.
"Kerala and Karnataka have banned this pesticide but the centre says that only if the whole country wants a ban, it is possible. Does it mean that only if the whole of the country suffers will the centre order the ban?" Achuthanandan asked.
