After four years of indecisiveness, the State government
has begun efforts to safely dispose of 314 litres of banned endosulfan
pesticide that has been stored in corroded barrels at a godown of the
Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) at Mannarkkad. Nicknamed Operation Blossoms
Spring, the process to transfer the corroded barrels into heavy-duty polythene
drums will be held on October 12. Mohammed Asheel,
assistant nodal officer of Endosulphan Victims Rehabilitation Cell, has said
the polythene drums would prevent the chemical from leaking and spelling doom
in the region. The drums would be handed over to qualified international
agencies for detoxification and disposal by December 12.
The district administration would soon invite tenders for this. The selected
agency would take the drums out of the locality to safer areas outside the
State for disposal.