Toxic pesticides send 18 more Vidarbha farmers to hospital

NAGPUR: A day after Maharashtra formed an SIT to probe pesticide poisoning deaths in the Vidarbha region, 18 more farmers who had inhaled toxic fumes were admitted to hospitals in the region. Fifteen of the new patients were admitted to hospitals in Yavatmal (5 in the local Government Medical College or GMC and 10 in rural hospitals), while three were admitted to the GMC in Akola.

At least 35 farmers died between July and October after inhaling poisonous fumes while spraying pesticides and around 450 were hospitalised. Yavatmal alone witnessed 19 of the deaths.

Dr Baba Elke, head of department of medicine at the Yavatmal GMC, said, "At present, 22 patients are undergoing treatment here, of which 6 are in the ICU and 3 on ventila tor support. Of the 10 new patients at the rural hospitals, 3 have been discharged after preliminary aid while 2 have been referred to the GMC."

In Akola, three new cases were reported on Wednesday , taking the number of patients undergoing treatment there to 7. While no fresh cases were reported from Nagpur and Chandrapur, two pesticide-affected persons remained on ventilator support at the Nagpur GMC and 8 were still undergoing treatment at the Chandrapur GMC.

Meanwhile, farmers said the pink bollworm pest, which is being blamed for higher use of pesticides, made an early entry this season. Bollworm is normally known to be a late-season pest which attacks the cotton crop by November. "This season it was found on the crops by July end," they said.

Dr V N Waghmare, head of the division of crop improvement at the Central Institute of Cotton Research, said, "This (early attack by the pest) was seen in areas where the crop was extended beyond December by irrigating the fields. In such cases, eggs of the earlier bollworm pests remain in the fields, and the worms spread to other areas quickly ," he said.

Farmers said the crop is extended because they desperately want to increase yield due to low profits. That is the reason another round of cotton bolls are grown after the first harvest.