20th Anniversary of Bhopal Gas Tragedy
Twenty years ago, on the night of 2/3 December 1984 a lethal cloud of gases escaped from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal and enveloped the surrounding densely populated localities. Over 15 thousand people died and over 5 lakhs suffered varying degrees of ill effects. Subsequent investigations by governmental and non-governmental agencies clearly established that it was the criminal negligence on the part of Union Carbide management that caused uncontrolled reaction in a massive tank containing methyl isocyanate that lead to a cocktail of very poisonous gases bursting out. This US multinational (which has since been taken over by Dow Chemicals, another MNC behemoth) had flouted all safety norms to cut costs at its Bhopal plant while maintaining much better safety standards at its other similar plant in the US, thus revealing its predatory disregard for the lives of Indians.
The tale of this shocking mass killing does not end here. Redress and compensation was sought from UCC through legal means, which they evaded and blocked for years. Matters were taken up in the Supreme Court of India. Even as investigations to assess the true extent of damage to lives and environment was dragging on, the Supreme Court, much to the satisfaction of UCC, brokered a settlement between the Govt. of India and UCC in 1989, under which UCC promised to pay about Rs.1500 crores as compensation to what were arbitrarily identified as about 3000 fatalities and over 1 lakh injured. 15 years have passed since this arbitrary and unjust settlement was imposed. About 50% of the compensation amount has been distributed among five times the number of people it was originally (and erroneously) meant for. Thousands of people still continue to suffer from serious ailments and disabilities directly attributable to the gases. Ground water contamination and other continuing environmental damages are yet to be properly assessed. In other words, successive governments (at the state or central levels) have floundered in dealing comprehensively with the real extent of impact of the disaster that overtook Bhopal 20 years ago.
3. In this context, it is necessary to emphasise the following dimensions that stand revealed from the experience of the past 20 years since Bhopal:
· The violation of safety standards by UCC and its subsequent attempts to evade responsibility clearly show the contempt in which such MNCs hold the people of third world countries like India. In the current era of imperialist globalisation, this predatory drive for profits at any cost by international capital needs to be highlighted. It is the same drive that caused Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, unleashed Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people, and has caused unimaginable hardship and misery for the people of Iraq and elsewhere.
· The compromises and vacillation of the Govt. of India, the Indian judiciary and various arms of the State machinery in connection with Bhopal and subsequently has dovetailed with the interests of international capital and reveals their complete disregard towards the well-being and lives of people.
· The people of Bhopal have fought for two decades for justice and managed to get only paltry concessions. However, several life and death issues still remain unaddressed even as they continue to struggle through legal and other avenues. Their struggle has been consistently supported by democratic forces all over the country (as also internationally). But this struggle of solidarity needs to be vastly strengthened in order to, both, ensure that justice is done for Bhopal as well as to raise the level of vigilance against ideologies and economic systems that caused Bhopal twenty years ago and continue to flourish even today.
Twenty years ago, on the night of 2/3 December 1984 a lethal cloud of gases escaped from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal and enveloped the surrounding densely populated localities. Over 15 thousand people died and over 5 lakhs suffered varying degrees of ill effects. Subsequent investigations by governmental and non-governmental agencies clearly established that it was the criminal negligence on the part of Union Carbide management that caused uncontrolled reaction in a massive tank containing methyl isocyanate that lead to a cocktail of very poisonous gases bursting out. This US multinational (which has since been taken over by Dow Chemicals, another MNC behemoth) had flouted all safety norms to cut costs at its Bhopal plant while maintaining much better safety standards at its other similar plant in the US, thus revealing its predatory disregard for the lives of Indians.
The tale of this shocking mass killing does not end here. Redress and compensation was sought from UCC through legal means, which they evaded and blocked for years. Matters were taken up in the Supreme Court of India. Even as investigations to assess the true extent of damage to lives and environment was dragging on, the Supreme Court, much to the satisfaction of UCC, brokered a settlement between the Govt. of India and UCC in 1989, under which UCC promised to pay about Rs.1500 crores as compensation to what were arbitrarily identified as about 3000 fatalities and over 1 lakh injured. 15 years have passed since this arbitrary and unjust settlement was imposed. About 50% of the compensation amount has been distributed among five times the number of people it was originally (and erroneously) meant for. Thousands of people still continue to suffer from serious ailments and disabilities directly attributable to the gases. Ground water contamination and other continuing environmental damages are yet to be properly assessed. In other words, successive governments (at the state or central levels) have floundered in dealing comprehensively with the real extent of impact of the disaster that overtook Bhopal 20 years ago.
3. In this context, it is necessary to emphasise the following dimensions that stand revealed from the experience of the past 20 years since Bhopal:
· The violation of safety standards by UCC and its subsequent attempts to evade responsibility clearly show the contempt in which such MNCs hold the people of third world countries like India. In the current era of imperialist globalisation, this predatory drive for profits at any cost by international capital needs to be highlighted. It is the same drive that caused Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, unleashed Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people, and has caused unimaginable hardship and misery for the people of Iraq and elsewhere.
· The compromises and vacillation of the Govt. of India, the Indian judiciary and various arms of the State machinery in connection with Bhopal and subsequently has dovetailed with the interests of international capital and reveals their complete disregard towards the well-being and lives of people.
· The people of Bhopal have fought for two decades for justice and managed to get only paltry concessions. However, several life and death issues still remain unaddressed even as they continue to struggle through legal and other avenues. Their struggle has been consistently supported by democratic forces all over the country (as also internationally). But this struggle of solidarity needs to be vastly strengthened in order to, both, ensure that justice is done for Bhopal as well as to raise the level of vigilance against ideologies and economic systems that caused Bhopal twenty years ago and continue to flourish even today.