Chilli-based PAVA shells being considered as replacement for pellet guns

With eye injuries caused by use of pellet guns in Jammu & Kashmir turning into a major controversy, an expert panel of the home ministry is exploring whether these can be replaced with newly-developed PAVA shells, a chilli-based non-lethal munition which temporarily incapacitates the targets and renders them immobile for several minutes.
Though a final decision is yet to be taken, government sources said a seven-member panel involving officers from home ministry, BSF, CRPF, J&K Police , IIT-Delhi and Ordnance Factory Board is considering their use for control crowd. The panel is expected to submit its report soon. These shells have been developed by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), a laboratory in Lucknow under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The expert panel is learnt to have held a demonstration of PAVA shells at a test field belonging to CISF in the NCR earlier this week. Home minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that an alternative to pellet guns+ would be found in the coming days.
“In 2010, it was said pellet gun is a non-lethal weapon which can cause least damage but now we feel there should be some alternate to this,” he said. The Army had last week suggested to the committee that it should opt for less lethal munition while controlling crowds in J&K. Northern Army commander Lt Gen DS Hooda had also said security forces should use less lethal weapons such as sound cannons, pepper shotguns and chilli grenades. “Alternative non-lethal weapons are available to disperse crowds during demonstrations. The panel sought our inputs and we have suggested that sonic weapons, pepper ammo and chilli grenades could be less harmful. The government is looking at these options,” he had said.
Officials said PAVA shells were on trial for over a year at the IITR and its development has come at a time when J&K is on the boil. The name PAVA stands for Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide, also called Nonivamide, and is an organic compound found characteristically in natural chilli pepper. On the Scoville scale (the degree to measure the power of chilli), PAVA is categorised as “above peak”, meaning it will severely irritate and paralyse humans, but temporarily. It is also used as a food additive to add pungency, flavouring and spicy effect to food.
The expert committee seems in favour of PAVA shells is learnt to have recommended that the Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) of BSF in Gwalior should be tasked with bulk production of the shells. The committee found that it was less lethal than pellet guns and equally effective. Once fired, the shells burst and temporarily stun, immobilise and paralyse the target in a more effective way than a tear gas shell or pepper sprays. The panel noted that PAVA is “biosafe, better than chilli grenade or tear smoke shell and can also be used in combination with stun and tear shells” by security forces while tackling unruly protesters.
Other alternatives discussed by the panel include “dye marker grenade with irritant” which not only causes sensory trouble to the target once fired but also leaves a dye mark on them for easy identification by security personnel, “tear smoke shell with soft nose” which does not give serious injury when hit directly.
Another option discussed is “stun grenade”, made by the TSU of BSF, which leads to temporary stunning of the target and makes a blinding flash for few minutes.