Non-governmental organisations in seven countries, including Malaysia, today called for a worldwide ban on pesticides in conjunction with the 18th anniversary of the Bhopal tragedy.

Today is the 'No Pesticides Use Day' launched in1988 by a regional group known as the Pesticide Action Network, Asia and the Pacific (PAN-AP) to commemorate the tragedy four years earlier.

On Dec 3, 1984, thousands of people were killed when a lethal cloud of methyl isocyanate (an extremely toxic chemical used to produce Sevin a potent pesticide at the time) leaked from a manufacturing plant owned by Union Carbide Corporation in Bhopal, India.

NGOs around the globe said the incident exposed the negligence and culpability of transnational corporations.

The United States-based Union Carbide eventually paid US$470 million in compensation for the victims in 1989.

In a press statement yesterday, PAN-AP said it has organised several activities to increase public awareness about the dangers of pesticides.