Endosulfan victims have a better Onam

KASARGOD: The 4,660 endosulfan victims in the 11 panchayats of Kasargod  have a better festival season this time as the  state government has sanctioned Rs 46 lakh as Onam allowance for them. Though many of their long-pending demands are yet to be considered by the new government, the victims are happy about this gesture shown to them. “It was a welcome move which has struck a chord with the  victims,” says Ambalathara Kunjikrishnan, secretary of Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnani. 

The allowance has not been distributed yet and the victims are waiting to get it through post instead of as bank accounts.    Mr Kunjikrishnan said  that several  problems of the  victims needed  to be addressed by the LDF government. “Other than the announcement of moratorium on bank loans for three months, no action on  our demands has been taken. We  met the chief minister twice and told him  of the situation,” he said.

Their  major demands include resumption of health camps in other panchayats,   setting up of a tribunal to look into the compensation issue and  expediting the comprehensive rehabilitation programme. Though the special rehabilitation village is coming up in the 25-acre  land at  Muliyar, the endosulfan activists say that the land is barren. “There is fertile land in the same panchayat and the Plantation Corporation is ready to hand over its land. So what is the point in insisting on the rocky land?” asks Mr Narayanan Peria, an activist. Kasargod district collector K. Jeevan Babu told DC that the allowance would be distributed before Onam.