PAVA shells – are an alternative to the pellet guns, cleared by the government – for crowd control in J & K.
PAVA shell is a chilli-based non-lethal munition which temporarily incapacitates the targets and renders them immobile for several minutes.
PAVA shells contain Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide, an organic compound found in chilli pepper. It derives its name from the compound, which is also known as Nonivamide. It is considered to be bio-safe, less lethal than pellet guns and equally effective.
It is also used as a food additive to add pungency, flavouring and spicy effect to food.
To Add:
* SCOVILLE scale -the degree to measure the power of chilli.
* Indian Institute of Toxicology Research – Lucknow.
( where these shells were under trial for over a year).
