The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Southern Zone, has directed Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) to submit a comprehensive report on the disposal of endosulfan stocked in three estates at Kasaragod district, and the resultant damage to groundwater in the Karnataka-Kerala border areas.
The directions were passed after Ravindranath Shanbhogue, a human rights and consumer rights activist from Udupi, filed an original application seeking the removal of endosulfan cans dumped in five abandoned wells in Minchinapadavu Hillocks, within the Kerala border, near Nettanige-Mudnur village of Puttur taluk at Dakshina Kannada district. He had also sought directions to Karnataka and Kerala governments to provide portable water to villages where traces of endosulfan had been found in the groundwater. He had also sought analysis of groundwater within a five kilometre range of abandoned wells where PCK had illegally dumped endosulfan.
During the hearing on the application on October 29, Mr. Shanbhogue’s counsel, Gaurav Kumar Bansal, submitted that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in its first report on January 1, 2024, reported about “278 barrels of endosulfan, whereas only 20 barrels were recovered” (as mentioned in the NGT order). However, the latest CPCB report of July 16, 2025, “accounted only for 69 barrels and recommended their disposal through incineration”. The counsel contended that the remaining barrels must be traced to fully eliminate the presence of endosulfan in the groundwater.
Regarding the Kerala State Pollution Control Board’s (Kerala SPCB) report that both Alpha endosulfan and Beta endosulfan were found only at Below Detectable Limits (BDL), Mr. Bansal said water samples had not been collected from the required distances and that the sampling was superficial.
The NGT Southern Zone bench, comprising judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Dr. Prashant Gargava, on October 29 said it will be appropriate to direct PCK to jointly examine the reports of the Kerala State, Kerala SPCB, and CPCB, along with their recommendations and the objections raised by the applicant, and conduct a thorough study.
“Let a comprehensive report be submitted by PCK, which must also address the missing endosulfan barrels, any damage caused by the presence of endosulfan in soil and water, and any remedial measures required,” the bench added.
It clarified that all related expenses shall be borne by PCK. The analysis shall be carried out in the presence or under the supervision of the Kerala SPCB/CPCB. It was open to the Kerala SPCB/CPCB to engage any expert agency in this regard.
The bench further said that the report prepared by PCK, in compliance with their directions, be circulated in advance to the applicant and other counsels to enable them to file objections, if any. The bench posted the matter to January 9, 2026, for further hearing.
Published – December 02, 2025 07:04 pm IST
