The night of Dec 2, 1984 would ever rankle as the black day in the annals of Indian history.Over 3000 died that night itself ; nearly 12000 died subsequently [the exact numbers of affected would remain a mystery!] and thousands maimed due to diseases induced by methyl-isocyanate that tank 610of Union Carbide spewed out some 27 tonnes of a poisonous asphyxiating gas from. Thousands of animals died too. The plant installed in 1969 was to produce a cheap pesticide ‘sevin’ which ironically killed human lives. More than 3 decades & a half, since that night of terror and death in Bhopal, which saw a cloud of deadly gases explode out of a faulty tank in apesticide factory and silently spread into the homes of sleeping people – there are still people affected by the world’s worst industrial disaster ever.Many who breathed the highly toxic cocktail that night suffered a horrible death with multiple organ failure. Those who survived have suffered multiple diseases in the decades that were to come.
The famed city ofKing Bhoja
perhaps named Bhojpal after the king and the dam ("pal") constructed
by him, slowly fellto obscurity, and by
the early 18th century Bhopal was a small village in the local Gond kingdom. The present capital of Madhya Pradesh is not as famous as many
other cities are – in 1969, a factory to produce pesticide Sevin,using methyl isocyanate (MIC) as an
intermediate was started – and in hindsight this has caused untold woes and tribulations
to thousands of poor Indian citizens.…
… before we proceed, can you (or would you like) to recognize the actor or more
the role performed in that film ‘A Prayer for Rain’.
Politically Arjun singh was the Chief Minister of the State
which now too has a Congress Govt headed by Kamalnath. Meantime, in 2014 –
occurred a death, which was not announced by his family,confirmed from public records – broughtno tears miles away in India – for that
ghastly incident.Warren Anderson was
born in New York in 1921, to Swedish immigrants who lived in the borough's Bay
Ridge section. They named him for Warren G Harding, who was the president at
the time.After graduating in 1942, he
enlisted in the Navy and trained to be a fighter pilot, but never saw combat.
After his discharge, he made the rounds of chemical companies and took the
first job offered him - by Union Carbide. He climbed the corporate ladder
rapidly and ruled over an empire with 700 plants in more than three dozen
countries. Then came Bhopal.
The
Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984 was a catastrophe that had no parallel in the world’s
industrial history. In the early morning hours of December 3, 1984, a rolling
wind carried a poisonous gray cloud from the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh (India). Forty tons of toxic gas (Methy-Iso-Cyanate, MIC) was
accidentally released from Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant, which leaked and
spread throughout the city. The result was a nightmare that still has no end
!!!
This
Sunday [1.12.2019] – hundreds of Bhopal Gas tragedy survivors formed a human chain
in protest on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the world's worst industrial
disaster. The protesters said the exposure to the toxic gas and the waste
dumped in the premises of the defunct factory continued to cause them health
problems, and demanded that Dow Chemicals, the current owner of Union Carbide,
pay compensation under the "polluter pays principle".
Lot
happened – the legal battle never gave justice to the victims.All of us use batteries – one of the well-known
names - Eveready Industries India Ltd. (EIIL), formerly Union Carbide India
Limited was associated with it.EIIL
started its operation in India in 1905. The first dry cell batteries were
imported from the US and sold in the major cities of the country. These
batteries were primarily used in imported torches. In 1939, the company set up
its first battery plant in Kolkata. This was followed by another battery
manufacturing plant in Chennai in the year 1952. In 1969, the now infamous
factory in Bhopal was opened. By the time of the Bhopal Disaster in 1984, the
company was ranked twenty-first in size among companies operating in India. It
had revenues of Rs 2 billion (then equivalent to US$170 million). EIIL
became part of the Williamson Magor Group through McLeod Russel Ltd in the
latter half of 1994 following the sale of Union Carbide Corporation's stake in
UCIL.
Later,
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), the former parent of Union Carbide India Ltd
(UCIL), completely distanced itself from the Indian entity, in which it held a
50.9 per cent stake at the time of the disaster. The buyer Dow Chemicals Company, retained its identity.With blame shifting hither and thither UCC said Khaitan-controlled Eveready Industries
India should be asked any questions on liability.According to them,the ‘polluter pays’ principle would mean
liability is for UCIL. The Williamson
Magor Group had no connections or involvement with the operations of the said
pesticide plant at Bhopal. Immediately following the accident, the plant at
Bhopal was closed down permanently and all licenses were cancelled by the
Government.
In
1985, an Act called the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Registration and Processing
of Claim) Act, 1985 was promulgated, by which the Union of India was authorized
to institute the suit for claims and damages on behalf of the affected persons.
The Union of Indiainstituted a suit
against UCC USA claiming damages because of UCC USA's direct action in the
design, construction and supervision and maintenance of the said plant at
Bhopal. The litigation has been long and has never been in favour of the
victims.
What
is buried deep is how the issue was handled by the then Govt.-Warren
Anderson, the proclaimed offender in Bhopal gas tragedy case, was allowed to
leave India four days after the disastrous gas leak claimed thousands of lives.
Anderson was not merely allowed to leave, but was regally escorted out by
police and senior government officials treating him like an honoured guest.The then chairman of UCC had landed in Bhopal
on Dec 7, was arrested at the airport and taken to the company's guesthouse.
But within hours, he was granted bail and the same police force six hours later
escorted Anderson out of the city in a blue government vehicle. Moti Singh, who
was then the district magistrate of Bhopal, told Headlines Today that he was
asked by the then chief secretary to release Anderson.Politicians worked overtime to ensure that
Anderson had a free run. The man
responsible for the death of thousands was spotted in front of Parliament in
the capital.He sat on a white
Ambassador car, with no sign of any remorse or tension on his face.
Anderson finally left Delhi on Dec 7 1984 and never returned. He is now no more !
The
victims sadly continued to see failures.The lawsuit filed in 1999—Bano v Union Carbide in district court of Manhattan, New York was
dismissed in 2003on the grounds of
statute of limitation.Same year Janki Bai Sahu v Union Carbide and Warren
Anderson was filed in same district court by 17 survivors living near the
defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal.Case sought damages, medical monitoring of patients affected by soil and
drinking water contamination.In
2005,Manhattan district court gavea summary judgment in favour of UCC against
which appeal was filed again. In June 2012,Court ruled in favour of the defendants, dismissing all claims of their
liability and participation in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak;UCC, parent company ofUnion Carbide India Limited (UCIL) which
operated the pesticide plant in Bhopal, filed an application demanding the
dismissal of the suit.The order
delivered by Keenan was the fourth dismissal of this case in 13 years.
The
complicated legal battle was lost...
thus ended the sordid saga of Bhopal
tragedy. .. .. the man at the start is Martin Sheen playing the criminal Warren
Anderson in the film -A Prayer for
Rain,a 2014 historical drama film set
amidst the Bhopal disaster. It was
directed byRavi Kumar and featured
Martin Sheen, Mischa Barton, Kal Penn, Rajpal Yadav, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and
Fagun Thakrar in important roles.
Homage today to the victims
of Bhopal tragedy and truth !
Feeling sad ~ S. Sampathkumar
3rd Dec 2019.
Article made from various sources in web including wiki; TOI; India today. Photo source : Robots For Eyes Podcast
