India uses as many as 67 pesticides that have been banned in other countries, said scientist C Jayakumar. He was speaking at the seminar on ‘50 Years after Silent Springs’, as part of the 50th anniversary of the publishing of Rachel Carson’s path-breaking environmental book, ‘Silent Springs’.
Speaking about the pressure applied by multinational giants against the banning of harmful chemicals, he said that about 70 per cent of all pesticides are produced by US-based companies and “if a pesticide is sold anywhere in the world, at least one US-based company would be a gainer,” he said.
Way back in 1992, the Banerjee Commission had submitted in its report that endosulfan must not be sprayed on water sources. If those recommendations were implemented, then a lot of the disaster caused by endosulfan could have been averted, said C Jayakumar.
Speaking about the revolution in environmental consciousness brought about by Rachel Carson’s book, K R Janardhanan said, “It used to be said that while Copper Nicus removed the misconception of the stature of man and the earth as being the centre of the universe and Charles Darwin removed the misconception of man being the leader of the world, Rachel Carson removed the misconception that the earth was the property of man. Through her bestselling book, Rachel Carson brought out how man is just a small part of the universe, but also the most cruel of all species,” he said.
“While many remember her as the woman behind the anti-DDT campaign, this is often misleading. For her real significance lies in the fact that she pioneered environmental and ecological consciousness. From a purely academic stand point, she brought out how the ecology was connected to our everyday lives. Thus paving way for the various environmental movements that the world saw,” he said .
On the occasion, the revised edition of ‘Padatha Pakshikal’ written by M K Prasad and published by Sasthrasahithya Parishath was released.
Comments
0 comment