"One man's medicine is another man's poison".

As per historians, the early man were nomads and travelled from place to place in search of food, etc. They did hunting and ate from the places they went. 

Soon, they discovered the process of Agriculture and this lead to permanent settlements, beginning to the formation of civilizations, for example, Messopotamian, Indus Valley, etc. 

They were mostly based on river banks and the civilizations progressed and at present, we are still awed on the science, technology and thinking that went into building those civilizations, some of which aren't understood even now. 

The population of the Earth wasn't a huge number in those times. So, the produce from Agriculture wasn't something pressurized since adequate food was always available. 

The agriculture was based on using natural resources itself and the fertilizers were natural ones.

With the boom of population, due to better healthcare, education, etc, food produce became inadequate. This is when chemicals started being used and this lead to huge increase in produce and produce with longer shelf life, etc. The industry boomed.

I'm going to concentrate on India here. You might have heard about the Green Revolution of India which in 1960s and 1970s went to support fertilizers, pesticides, etc which increased the agriculture production in India making India from a food-deficient country (post independence) to an cereal exporter. This has made farmers rich, reduce wastage, etc. So people started to use pesticides, etc more and more. 

The story starts with the advent of Green Revolution in India when the Plantation Corporation of Kerala Ltd was set up with an aim of accelerating the agro-economic development of Kerala. 

The Cheemeni Estate, in Kasaragod, Kerala, spread over 856 Ha, had over 83 workers, 9 staff and 2 officers. 

Endosulfan was a pesticide and was sprayed in the cashew plantations in Cheemeni estate from 1978 onwards, 3 times a year. It was sprayed aerially using helicopters and small planes, like how “Agent Orange” (a deadly chemical weapon used by America in Vietnam war to destroy dense forests to smoke the Viet Congs out) was sprayed. 

Endosulfan was used to stop the menace of Tea Mosquito Bug. 

As the plantations are mostly in mountainous areas, the pesticide drained and got washed down the slopes during rains into drinking water below. The consumption of this water by the people and animals resulted in diseases ranging from physical deformities, cancers, birth disorders and damages to brain and nervous system.

The dangers started to be noticed from 1970s when anomalies were seen in calves like defective legs and stunted growth and even a calf was born with two heads.

Soon, the dangers started to be visible in Human beings and mostly affected were children with congenital anomalies, mental retardation, physical deformities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hydrocephalus etc. The harms still continue to live today as the Endosulfan toxicity continues to build up and passes over generations. 

Endosulfan was seen in Bone Marrow of Cancer patients, etc and it was only by 1990s it was concluded that Endosulfan was the villain behind all the problems.

A large number of wildlife, including, Nilgiri langur, tiger, jackal, wild boar, jungle cat, mouse deer, mongoose, squirrels, flying fox, blacknaped hare, sparrow, parakeets, crows, frogs, honey bees, snails resided in the area which disappeared on spraying of Endosulfan. Now, only Human Beings remained. 

The affected children have lost their lives. Most of them can’t live like normal children. The Court has asked the government to pay compensations to the victims but It hasn't been completely done even now. 

There have been various operations by NGOs, etc to serve the people over there including special schools. 

An interesting and inspiration news that came recently was of an Endosulfan Survivor, Shruti, who went on and studied and got selection to study as a Doctor. This shows that how we must not be limited by any disability and continue to strive harder and better and we can achieve good results. 

The pesticide spraying and all can come to a stop and natural alternatives must be used. You all know about Organic farming but its overpriced and still people prefer the lower priced chemical infested fruits and vegetables. 

Well, fruits and vegetables coated in chemicals look much more appealing to the eye and aesthetics are very important when we go to a shop to buy produce. 

Most of the organic stuff might look decayed, etc because microorganisms might have started acting on it. But the chemical coated stuff looks fresh as new because microorganisms don't go to it because they know very well how harmful it is. And if they know that, then why don't you understand its harmful for us too.

I recently came across a start-up on “Shark Tank” (a TV show encouraging new start ups) about “Hungry Harvest”. 1 out of 5 fruits and vegetables are thrown away because they don't look appealing to the eye. Hungry Harvest takes those fruits and vegetables and sells it at a lower rate on a subscription basis, helping reduce food waste and also assuring good produce. 

I might have gone too long on the article. (Sorry!) Anyways, as responsible environmentalists we must do everything we can to advocate good farming practices and also not to use chemicals that can harm the environment and our lives.

Lets make good choices! 

References:

1) http://endosulfanstudy.blogspot.ae/2012/10/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

2) http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=332630

3) http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Endosulfan-destroyed-biodiversity-of-Kasaragod-villages/article10693037.ece

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