Hyderabad: As of March 2024, over one-third of the 339 pesticides registered in India qualify as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs). Additionally, 20 of the 100 registered herbicides in the nation additionally fall below this extremely poisonous class, mentioned Narsimha Reddy Donthi, an environmentalist.
“Furthermore, 81 HHPs registered in India are banned or unapproved in numerous other countries due to their extreme toxicity and adverse effects. These chemicals, many of which predate the Insecticide Act of 1968 and lack thorough safety testing, are linked to reduced crop yields, soil erosion, and significant contamination of air, water, and soil,” he mentioned throughout a symposium organized to mark the ‘No Pesticide Use Week’ in remembrance of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
The occasion, collectively organized by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India, the Council for Green Revolution, and the Center for Economic and Social Studies, highlighted the pressing want for stricter regulation and eventual bans on these poisonous substances.
Donthi, in his keynote handle, described the “chemicalisation” of Indian agriculture as a grim actuality. He likened the seasonal pesticide spraying in rural areas to creating fuel chambers, drawing a parallel to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. “Pesticide poisoning is one of the least understood and least addressed issues,” he added, emphasizing its devastating results on rural households.
PAN India’s CEO, AD Dileep Kumar, underlined that HHPs dominate each imports and exports in India, with residues of these chemical substances continuously detected in meals objects. “This has not only raised serious food safety and health concerns domestically but also led to the rejection of Indian agricultural exports in global markets, exacerbating the economic burden on farmers,” he added.
The symposium highlighted the extreme well being dangers posed by HHPs. “Acute exposure can cause irritation, dizziness, sweating, convulsions, and even death, while long-term exposure is linked to cancer, neurological damage, birth defects, infertility, liver and kidney damage, and endocrine disruption. These pesticides also have trans- generational toxicity, accumulating and persisting in the environment,” added Donthi.
Environmentalist Ok Purushotham Reddy referred to as on the medical group to collaborate with campaigners in advocating bans on HHPs. “Through this, we demand to ban HHPs and herbicides in India to protect public health, biodiversity, and the environment,” he added.
