Nearly a decade ago, the government ruled out a ban on the production and use of monocrotophos, the highly toxic pesticide that killed 23 children this month in a Bihar village school providing free lunches under the government-sponsored mid-day meal programme.
Despite being labelled highly hazardous by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a panel of government experts was persuaded by manufacturers that monocrotophos was cheaper than alternatives and more effective in controlling pests that decimate crop output.
India, which has more hungry mouths to feed than any other country in the world, continues to use monocrotophos and other highly toxic pesticides that rich and poor nations alike, including China, are banning on health grounds.
Although the government argues the benefits of strong pesticides outweigh the hazards if properly managed, the school food poisoning tragedy underlined criticism such controls are virtually ignored on the ground.
According to the minutes, the 2004 meeting conducted by the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee, the Indian government body that regulates pesticide use, concluded that: “The data submitted by the industry satisfies the concerns raised... Therefore, there is no need to recommend the ban of this product.”
Government scientists continue to defend the pesticide, and insist the decision to not ban it remains good.
Just weeks before the school tragedy in Bihar, the government advised farmers via text message to use monocrotophos to kill borer pests in mandarin fruits and rice, records on the agricultural meteorology division’s web site show.
A senior official directly involved in the decision-making on pesticide use said: “You have got to understand that all pesticides are toxic but they are essential for maintaining or increasing agricultural production.
“Can we afford to lose 15-25% of output? One cannot afford to lose such a large percentage of agricultural produce. The answer lies in judicious use.”
The official declined to be identified.
The WHO has cited a 2007 study that about 76,000 people die each year in India from pesticide poisoning. Many of the deaths are suicides made easy by the wide availability of toxic pesticides.
15 pages of regulations
In the school tragedy, police suspect the children’s lunch was cooked in oil that was stored in a used container of monocrotophos.
The government has issued 15 pages of regulations that need to be followed when handling pesticides – including wearing protective clothing and using a respirator when spraying. Pesticide containers should be broken when empty and not left outside in order to prevent them being re-used.
But in a nation where a quarter of the 1.2 billion population is illiterate and vast numbers live in far-flung rural districts, implementation is almost impossible.
According to the WHO, swallowing 1,200 milligrams – less than a teaspoon – of monocrotophos can be fatal to humans. In 2009, it called for India to ban the product because of its extreme toxicity.
WHO officials say the school tragedy reinforces the dangers of the pesticide.
“We would advocate that countries restrict, ban, or phase out...those chemicals for which they can’t ensure that all aspects of use are safe,” said Lesley Onyon, WHO’s South-East Asia regional adviser for chemical safety.
Government officials refuse to address the WHO’s findings directly.
“We have to take decisions depending on our need, our priorities, and our requirements. No one knows these things better than us,” said the government source.
Not most toxic
Historically, India appears reluctant to ban pesticides. Monocrotophos isn’t the most toxic pesticide used in the country, according to the WHO’s classifications. Phorate, methyl parathion, bromadiolone and phosphamidon, all classified as extremely hazardous, are likewise registered for use.
And endosulfan – a substance so nasty the United Nations wants it eliminated worldwide – was banned only by a Supreme Court order in 2011. The decision came a few months after the chief minister of Kerala went on a day-long hunger fast to demand the ban.
According to media reports, over 1,000 people were killed and hundreds born deformed because of indiscriminate aerial spraying of endosulfan in Kasargod district in Kerala.
Both production of monocrotophos and demand in India was higher in 2009/10 than in 2005/06, according to latest available government data. It accounted for about 4% of total pesticide use in 2009/10 and 7% of production.
Its share in total sales is about 2-3% now, according to the Pesticides Manufacturers & Formulators Association, which says it represents the industry on a national basis with over 250 members.
The Centre for Science and Environment, a leading environmental NGO in India, says the state of pesticide control in the country is deplorable and companies have great influence.
“The story on the ground is abysmal, it’s very disappointing,” said Amit Khurana, programme manager in the CSE’s food safety and toxins unit.
The government has tried to introduce legislation for “more effective regulation of import, manufacture, export, sale, transport, distribution and use of pesticides” but the bill has languished in parliament since 2008.
India is no stranger to the dangers of pesticides. Besides the thousands killed each year, the country suffered the world’s worst industrial disaster when lethal methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide plant in the city of Bhopal in 1984, killing nearly 4,500 people.