(AP Photo/Deepak Sharma) Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the death of farmers from Yavatmal district, suspected to be caused due to pesticide poisoning. A Government Resolution (GR) in this regard was issued on Friday. The divisional commissioner of Amravati will be heading the SIT, it said.
It is a seven member committee, which has presumed that the death of several farmers is a “manmade disaster”, mentions the GR. The SIT has been given three week’s period starting from Friday for submission of report, it said. The purview of the SIT would be fixing responsibilities on state government officials, organisations involved in it, assessment of quality control department’s routine reports of pesticide samples and recommendations to withdraw or ban certain types of pesticides, said the GR. The issue of farmers suffering from exposure to pesticides began in July this year but its gravity deepened after 20 farmers lost their life, according to local activists.
