KOCHI: Leela Kumari Amma is full of grit and courage, a woman who is an inspiration to many, through her fight against endosulfan. She had approached a lower court in 1998 and the court temporarily stayed aerial spraying of endosulfan in Cashew plantations. In 2000, the High Court of Kerala upheld the order of the lower court and permanently stopped endosulfan spraying. Later the state government banned the pesticide in 2004.However, Leela Kumari continued to campaign against the pesticide. She was selected the ‘Person of the Year 2010’ by India Vision, on Saturday. An agriculture officer, she spoke against her own department’s practice of spraying a deadly pesticide that maimed many for life besides claiming the lives of others. She pioneered a fight which focused attention on the deadly effects of endosulfan. “I knew that people were facing the same physical ailments that I was beginning to feel, when I moved to Kasargod. Later, when my elder brother and many others died owing to its ill effects, I realised that I had to fight against its use.”However, this was just the beginning of long fight. From early Nineties, she filed many complaints to the plantation authorities and political leaders who turned a deaf ear to the issue. This forced her to file a petition before court. She also started her campaign against the pesticide. There were many threats against her. The plantation managements asked her to stop her campaigns, even troubling her at home, but she was not deterred.“These pesticide meant to kill the pests that eat the crops was in reality killing the human lives and it was necessary to stop it”, she said.What started as a small campaign became a victory when the state government banned endosulfan. Leela Kumari Amma is happy that in 2001 she survived the car accident that almost paralysed her, to see the ban. At present the state government has taken a lot of initiatives for the families of endosulfan victims. A scheme that provides caretakers at every home that have been victimised by endosulfan, pension to the victims, a special school van in every panchayat in Kasargod to take children to their homes have been sponsored by the state government.
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