Pesticide Poisoning Kills 18 Farmers in Yavatmal, Maharashtra

In the last two weeks, 18 farmers have died from inhaling toxic insecticide sprayed in the farmlands cultivating Bt cotton in Yavatmal district of the Vidarbha region in Maharastra, according to reports.

Around 600 more tribal farm workers and farmers have been injured due to the same cause and are undergoing treatment at the Yavatmal Government Medical College and other hospitals in the district.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday evening ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced a Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of each deceased farmer.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sudhir Shrivastava will be conducting the inquiry, said a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). It also directed the pesticide companies to provide free masks to farmers.

“It will be binding on the pesticide companies now to provide free masks to avoid such incidents in the future. If required, the government shall also provide masks," it said.

Kishore Tiwari, chief of Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM), a state task force to address farm distress, has alleged that the increase in the number of deaths of farmers was due to the negligence of the officials of state agriculture and health departments.

It is found that the spraying of ‘Profex Super’ insecticide on the Bt cotton plantations was done by all the farmers who died.

With over 40 lakh hectares of farmland under cotton cultivation in Maharashtra (the largest area of the cotton crop in the country), Tiwari said that however “the core issue is related to genetically modified Bt cotton seeds that are supposed to be resistant to bollworm and other infestations which failed to serve the purpose and resulted in the use of massive spray of pesticides,” causing the death of the farmers. He warned that the situation could worsen this year as the Bt Cotton Seeds are now susceptible to the attacks of the pink worm, thrips, mealybugs and the regular bollworms.

He also demanded a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to each of the victim's families, while the government has announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh, IANS reported.

“Indiscriminate and faulty use of pesticides along with wrong combinations, direct and extended exposure for long hours without protective gear for days are some of the apparent reasons why the farmers lost their lives in recent weeks,” Tiwari said in a press statement.