This page was last modified on 08 April, 2011
BHOPAL
[NB the following narrative is sourced and edited from the International Campaign for Justice for Bhopal: http://bhopal.net and The Bhopal Medical Aid website: http://www.bhopal.org The information has been cross checked with other sources and to the best of my knowledge is true but no warranty should be implied as to its accuracy. News updates:
Bhopal was the world's worst industrial accident; although this may be eclipsed by the nuclear disaster unfolding at the Fukushima plnat in Japan. Please see below for a summary of the story of the Bhopal accident and/or go to this excellent article published to coincide with the 25th Anniversary in 2009.
On the 6th June 2010 the Indian court finally sentenced 11 local managers who worked for Union Carbide at the time of the disaster in 1984. They received prison sentences of just two years each for which, on the evidence were serious breaches of health and safety rules which led to the deaths of some 20,000 people. The senior managers of Union Carbide based in the United States, including Warren Anderson, the then Chief Executive, have still not submitted themselves for trial despite warrants having been issued. The lenient sentences handed down to the Indian managers were a severe disappointment to the people of Bhopal and the campaign groups that are fighting for justice.
Bhopal is a city of around 1.5 million people located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. On the night of 3rd December 1984 its people were the victim of the world's worst industrial accident at the pesticide plant of the US company, Union Carbide. 27 tons of the lethal gas, methyl isocyanate, leaked into the air. 500,000 people were exposed to the gas. Around 3,000 people died immediately. Since1984 an estimated 20,000 people have died as a result of the poison gas leak. The people in Bhopal are still dying of the affects of the contamination at the rate of one a day. 120,000 people live with health problems as a result of the contamination of which around 50,000 are too ill to work. Horrific birth defects of babies of the mothers who were contaminated are one of the continuing conseqences of the accident. Many other people are blind and suffer breathing problems and other illnesses. The plant had six safety systems that should have prevented the escape of the toxic gas but none were working properly. The company had closed the plant because it was uneconomic and the safety systems had fallen into disrepair.
In 1989 Union Carbide, in a partial settlement, paid $470 million dollars to the Indian Government. A settlement that was not subject to judicial assessment of damages nor agreed with the victims. As a result many of the victims received around $500 compensation as a one off payment. In 1991 Warren Anderson, Union Carbide's Chief Executive at the time of the disaster, was charged in India with manslaughter. He has refused to submit himself to an Indian court. Union Carbide has been charged with culpable homicide but has refused to concede to any judicial process.
In 2001 the Dow Chemical company bought Union Carbide; taking ownership of all its assets and liabilities. Dow Chemical has refused to accept liability for the accident and failed to clean up the site. The gas tanks and buildings remain derelict and the toxic chemicals continue to leach into the ground. The company has refused to provide a breakdown of the chemical constitutents of the gas on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. This lack of comprehensive technical data continues to hamper the medical treatment of the victims. To date Dow Chemical has refused to compensate the victims, nor will it accept responsibility for the suffering of the victims or the continuing environmental contamination of the area. The site remains a toxic hazard and people continue to die and to suffer ill health as a result.
Whilst there are many injustices, large and small, throughout the world the Bhopal disaster perhaps more than any other illustrates how, despite the highly developed systems of law operating in the two countries concerned, India and the USA, it has so far been impossible to apply the law to achieve a just settlement. There are many reasons for this. Amongst these are: the weakness of the system of international law, the power of multi-national companies and the interplay between politics and the law which often results in political and commercial interests being paramount. None of these things are inevitable but none of them have easy or quick solutions either. It requires a sustained effort on the part of individuals and communities to help ensure a legal and political system that delivers justice. The organisations mentioned below are two such groups working to achieve justice for the victims of Bhopal. I hope you will find time to visit their websites and find out more about how you can support their efforts:
Please help to ensure that the Indian Government keeps its word by visiting: http://bhopal.net