By Pervez Bari for TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The victims and survivors along with their progenies and their kin of Bhopal gas tragedy, world’s worst industrial catastrophe, continue to languish in utter neglect even after 32 years of the gory event as justice continues to elude them.
The victims’ demand of adequate compensation, clean up of environmental contamination and exemplary punishment of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical to the powers that be over three decades of the disaster goes on deaf years and they continue to live in shambles with pain and agony.
As such on the 32nd Anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal several hundreds of survivors marched on Saturday in a rally from the city centre to the erstwhile abandoned pesticide factory of the American multinational Union Carbide. The marchers held banners, chanted slogans and at the end of the rally, set fire to the logos of Union Carbide and its current owner Dow Chemicals along with the US flag.
Leaders of five survivors’ organizations jointly organized a rally from Bharat Talkies to Union Carbide factory. The organizations included Bhopal Group for Information and Action, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha and Children Against Dow and Carbide. Later they burnt huge logos of Dow Chemical, Union Carbide and American flag. A massive dummy serpent highlighting the pending issues of disaster survivors accompanied the rally. The five survivors’ organizations called upon the governments of USA, India and Madhya Pradesh state to stop sheltering and colluding with the corporations and ensure justice and a life of dignity for the half million survivors of the tragedy.
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan and Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti held a protest meet at Yadgar-e-Shahjehani park and later submitted a memorandum of demands to gas relief and rehabilitation minister Vishwas Sarang. The Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti and supporting organizations held a protest meet before the abandoned factory and burnt an effigy of American/BJP led federal and state (MP) governments. The Gas Peedit Sangharsh Morcha took out a mock funeral of American corporations and later conducted mock last rituals too.
Meanwhile, on the eve of the 32nd Anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, hundreds of survivors had marched on Friday with flaming torches to the memorial statue of the gas affected mother opposite the Union Carbide factory. They paid homage to those killed by the disaster at the end of the rally. Residents of the communities next to the Union Carbide factory where the ground water is contaminated by hazardous chemical waste were also part of the march.
Leaders of the five survivors’ organizations: Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for Information and Action and Children Against Dow / Carbide who organized the march demanded adequate compensation, clean up of environmental contamination and exemplary punishment of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical.
The organizations said that the current government at the centre has surpassed all previous governments in serving the interests of the criminal American corporations. “Dow Chemical’s Indian subsidiary Dow Agro-sciences was discharged from the bribery case against them by the CBI last year. This was an open and shut case since Dow Chemical had already confessed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, USA and yet the CBI that works directly under the Prime Minister, let them walk away from the case,” said Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
It may be recalled here that on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing factory had spewed poisonous Methyl Iso-cyanate gas whereby 3000 people had perished virtually instantly and over the years more than 25000 have kissed death and the sad saga is still continuing uninterruptedly. About half a million are suffering from the side effects of the poisonous gas and several thousand people have been maimed for life.
Prevalence of cancer 10 times higher among gas victims
Meanwhile, studies by Sambhavna Trust Clinic, which has been providing free medical care to 32,000 survivors, reveal that the contaminated area around the abandoned Union Carbide pesticide factory has increased by at least two square kilometres in the last four years.
Physician Dr. Mohammad Ali Qaisar said that five samples of groundwater were tested at the government-owned Public Health Engineering Department’s laboratory and all of them were found to have prohibitively high chemical oxygen demand values.
“Additionally, total dissolved solids in four out of five samples were far in excess of the maximum allowable Bureau of Indian Standards’ limit of 500 ppm,” he said, adding samples tested by the Trust were found to contain hazardous organo-chlorines.
Dr. Qaisar said the contaminants, known to cause cancers and birth defects and damage the liver, kidneys, lungs and brain, are getting worse daily. The prevalence of cancer is ten times higher among gas victims, he pointed out.
US Govt. sheltering Dow Chemical
“The US government is sheltering Dow Chemical for the last two years by refusing to serve the notices of the Bhopal District court against the US Corporation in the ongoing criminal case on the disaster. It must stop violating the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty it signed with India in 1991,” said Rashida Bee, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh and winner of the Goldman Environmental prize.
Balkrishna Namdeo, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha said: “The collusion between the Indian government and these American corporations is the main reason for the denial of justice and rehabilitation to the survivors for the last 32 years.” This and the fact that half of the gassed people are Muslims and 80 % of the Hindus are from lower castes, he added.
“Our Prime Minister paid special attention to the menu for the dinner he invited Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical’s CEO to. But he remains oblivious to the need for revision of figures of injury and death in the curative petition for additional compensation to the survivors pending before the Supreme Court of India for last six years,” said Nawab Khan of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha.
Charging the state government with deliberate negligence, Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said: “The Madhya Pradesh government has known about contamination of ground water in and around the pesticide factory since 1991. Yet till today it has taken no legal steps to make Dow Chemical pay for the clean up or for the health damages to thousands of residents living next to the abandoned factory.”
“The long disastrous aftermath of the man-made disaster in Bhopal is also man-made. The disaster can end today if the governments of USA, India and Madhya Pradesh respect national and international laws, follow their respective constitutions and fulfill promises made,” said Safreen Khan of the Children Against Dow Carbide, an organization of next generation of survivors.