When a smiling M V Subrahmanya and Tulasi greeted Minister for Health and Family Welfare Aravind Limbavali with roses, they gave him no inkling of the mind-numbing effects of pesticide he would see at the day-care centre for victims of endosulfan poisoning at Kokkada in Beltangady taluk.
Stepping into the temporary day-care centre, the Minister on Wednesday was saddened by the sight of individuals lying immobile with crippling deformities. He was led to a boy suffering from cerebral palsy.
Tulasi (13), who has no strength below her waist, was seen staring at a vacuum. However, it was the sight of 19-year-old Sharat and 16-year-old Bharati sprawled on a mat that prompted Limbavali to kneel down and lend a sympathetic ear to their grievances.
Daily wager Somappa Gowda of Rekya in Beltangady taluk said that his eldest daughter was born normal. However, for the second and third pregnancy, Gowda’s wife returned to her mother’s village in Kokkada. Within six months of their birth, the limbs of the children turned twisted and their growth became stunted.
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