Sean Gallagher Archive

Pesticide Poisoning Pollution Punjab India

In the village of Teejaruhela on the India-Pakistan border, Khushal Singh (33) holds a picture of his younger sister, Ranu Vai, who died during a fit, as a result of complications from having cerebral palsy and mental disabilities. It is believed that excessive pesticide use in the region over the past 30-40 years has led to the accumulation of dangerous levels of toxins such as uranium, lead and mercury which are contributing to increased health problems including cancers, birth defects and mental disabilities in children. It's a hidden epidemic which is gripping the Punjab region in northeast India which for decades has been the country's 'bread basket'. As local farmers and their families continue to get ill they are paying the price for the country's 'Green Revolution'.

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Contained in galleries: India - Punjab - Agriculture & Pesticides [2013]

In the village of Teejaruhela on the India-Pakistan border, Khushal Singh (33) holds a picture of his younger sister, Ranu Vai, who died during a fit, as a result of complications from having cerebral palsy and mental disabilities. It is believed that excessive pesticide use in the region over the past 30-40 years has led to the accumulation of dangerous levels of toxins such as uranium, lead and mercury which are contributing to increased health problems including cancers, birth defects and mental disabilities in children. It's a hidden epidemic which is gripping the Punjab region in northeast India which for decades has been the country's 'bread basket'. As local farmers and their families continue to get ill they are paying the price for the country's 'Green Revolution'.