Nightmarish world of pesticide-related ailments
Reviewed by Kuldip Singh Dhir

The work under review is a horrifying study of the terrible, often insidious, devastation unleashed on the man and the environment by indiscriminate use of pesticides and insecticides. Vandana Shiva is a renowned environmentalist. Dr Mira and Dr Vaibhav are her close associates in her campaign for making our food safer and life healthier.

Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson, the celebrated author of Silent Spring, warned the world about the ecological impact of hazardous pesticides and chemicals. Her sane advice has not been taken as seriously as it should have been.

Over the past five decades, progressively increasing use of pesticides has been promoted by aggressive marketing. The chirping of spring birds is almost silent now. Beyond the birds, poisonous chemicals are affecting the humans too. Dr Vandana and her associates have taken up Carsons’ cause both on an emotive and scientific basis.

The authors of this work point out that pesticides were born during World War-II as agents of destruction for chemical warfare.

After the war, the remains of these chemicals were diverted for use in the agricultural sector in the form of fertilisers and pesticides. Unethical and clever network of business, advertisement and the academic is concerned with money only.

The farmer, vegetable grower and fruit grower has been made to believe that these agro-chemicals are the only means to increase the yield and in turn profit. No body tells them about the magnitude and nature of acute, sub-acute or chronic poisoning due to these or about the pesticide resistance in the pests after sometime, necessitating repeated sprays, larger quantities and stronger chemicals.

The so-called safe fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and pesticides flood the market under new brand names and attractive packaging. Advertisement and marketing is an integral part of all this. This highly disturbing book quotes from authentic studies to establish the link between these chemicals and certain types of cancer, congenital birth defects, nervous seizures, paralysis and a whole range of equally debilitating diseases.

It is a wake-up call for the government which has been a mute spectator while the unscrupulous corporate world has virtually waged a chemical war on innocent people who are unaware of the terrible fate that awaits them in the not-so-distant future. This book is essential reading for those concerned about the health and safety of their families and for consumer organisations and NGOs concerned with health and welfare of the man in street.

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