Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 (IANS): The NHRC on Thursday expressed its dissatisfaction over the tardy progress in the setting up of a tribunal to settle claims of victims of endosulfan and asked the Kerala government to expedite it.

The National Human Rights Commission has given eight weeks to the government to submit a report about the progress, along with details of payment of the remaining amount of relief to the victims.

The NHRC is holding a three-day sitting here in the Kerala capital that began on Wednesday.

During a hearing on the matter, state government officials informed the commission that the proposal to set up a tribunal was awaiting clearance from the cabinet.

The use of endosulfan as a pesticide in estates owned by the state-run Plantation Corporation, Kerala (PCK) in Kasargode began in the early 1970s and continued till 2001.

The damaging effects of endosulfan had begun to show up in 11 villages.

Successive governments here have been working out various schemes for the victims. But each time a list gets ready, there are complaints that more people have to be included and the implementation gets delayed.

Endosulfan is one of the most toxic pesticides on the market today, responsible for many fatal pesticide poisoning incidents around the world. Endosulfan is also a xenoestrogen —- a synthetic substance that imitates or enhances the effect of estrogens -— and it can act as an endocrine disruptor, causing reproductive and developmental damage in both animals and humans.