NGT directs Kerala Plantation Corporation to trace hundreds of missing endosulfan barrels
The National Green Tribunal ordered Kerala's Plantation Corporation to locate missing endosulfan barrels and study contamination in affected districts by January 2026.
The National Green Tribunal’s Southern Zone in Chennai has directed the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) to trace hundreds of missing endosulfan barrels that the Corporation procured nearly two decades ago for aerial spraying across cashew plantations in Kerala and Karnataka and has still not accounted for.
The Tribunal also asked PCK to carry out a comprehensive study on endosulfan contamination in Kasaragod district in Kerala and in the Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka.
The bench of judicial member Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargav directed PCK to submit a detailed compliance report by January 9, 2026.
The Tribunal issued the directions on October 29, while hearing a plea filed by human rights activist Ravindranath Shanbhogue alleging illegal and unscientific dumping of endosulfan in abandoned wells inside PCK’s cashew plantations. Shanbhouge had said the contamination had seeped into groundwater and affected residents in villages in Karnataka and Kerala.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had then conducted several inspections.
Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who appeared for Shanbhouge told the NGT that the CPCB’s first report from January 1, 2024. counted 278 barrels of endosulfan and authorities had recovered only 20. However, the CPCB’s latest report from July 16, 2025, speaks of only 69 barrels and recommends their disposal through incineration.
Bansal argued that PCK must trace the remaining barrels to eliminate the risk of continued contamination.
The Kerala State Pollution Control Board meanwhile, told the Tribunal that Alpha and Beta endosulfan both fell below detectable limits in recent sampling. Shanbhogue, however, claimed officials had collected water samples from the wrong distances and conducted only “superficial sampling.”
The Tribunal then directed PCK to examine all the reports, its own, those of the Kerala SPCB, and the CPCB, along with Shanbhogue’s objections. The Tribunal asked PCK to undertake a thorough study and submit a comprehensive report. “Let a comprehensive report be submitted by M/s. 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 Tribunal said.
The Tribunal clarified that PCK must bear all expenses. It also directed the Kerala state pollution control board and CPCB to supervise the analysis, and permitted the two agencies to engage external experts.
As per CBCP’s latest report submitted before the NGT, PCK acknowledged aerial spraying of endosulfan across its plantations from 1983 to 2000-01. PCK told CPCB it had statutory sanctions for spraying, but it failed to produce any records that accounted for 258 barrels of the pesticide. The spraying took place in Kasaragod and across plantations in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Uttara Kannada, the report stated. The CPCB also said that Karnataka health officials have recorded widespread illness linked to endosulfan exposure.
