To Catch A Real Pest

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has blown the whistle on the central government committee that hastily gave a clean chit to the pesticide endosulfan, used in Kasargod, north Kerala. The pesticide is allegedly the culprit behind physical deformities among inhabitants of the district. The cse has "detailed information about the extent of manipulation of data and misinformation" used by the O.P. Dubey Committee, set up in 2002, to conclude that "there’s no link between the use of endosulfan and the health problems reported from Padre village". The cse suggests an "authority-industry" nexus. Says Sunita Narain, director, cse: "We’ve highlighted the factual discrepancies because these decisions concern the integrity of our scientific institutions."