Bees Saal Baad
(Twenty years later)
December 3rd, 1984, the Union Carbide plant spewed the poisonous Methyl Isocyanate which changed the history of Bhopal forever. The immediate holocaust was obviously unprecedented, at least in India. 2,000 innocent people died instantly, many thousands died in these twenty years. Uncountable numbers suffered from ailments due to the toxic waste.
Twenty years have passed. What has been done?
The perpetrators of this inhuman crime are still out large. Union Carbide India was renamed Eveready Industries India, who now claims it is not responsible for the mess. Union Carbide in the US merged with Dow Chemicals which agian refuses to accept any liability for a plant it did not operate. In fact, the official statement of Union Carbide states:
The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation held just over half the stock. The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India. The plant was designed, built, and managed by UCIL using Indian consultants and workers. (sic)
It is disheartening to see UC pass the blame to Indian consultants and workers.
With the passage of time, it becomes more and more difficult to pin down the prime accused such as Warren Anderson, the Chairman of UC at the time.
The RBI states that it has over Rs. 1,500 crore in the compensation fund. This would translate to around Rs.25,000 per family. Would that be enough for the likes of Jyoti, who can no longer get married? Or even Bano Bi's two daughters who have no suitors even though they do not have any physical deformities, only because of the stigma attached with living in affected areas? Would it be a replacement for the bread winner who died in the accident? Would it cover the cost of medicine for the thousands affected directly, leave aside the indirect? Union Carbide has been directed by the courts to construct a 500 bed hospital in Bhopal but I doubt if that will be enough.
I guess nothing will be enough, at least for the orphans who lost everything, for the aged who lost their only support, for the new bride. We could only pray for them and take steps so that we do not have another Bhopal. The water in the region is still contaminated, affecting more people everyday. We should probably start with that.
To read more about the tragedy, visit Rediff. A slide show with some horrifying pictures is available at Greenpeace. Tell Dow to clean up Bhopal. See Time Magazine's cover on Bhopal.
December 3rd, 1984, the Union Carbide plant spewed the poisonous Methyl Isocyanate which changed the history of Bhopal forever. The immediate holocaust was obviously unprecedented, at least in India. 2,000 innocent people died instantly, many thousands died in these twenty years. Uncountable numbers suffered from ailments due to the toxic waste.
Twenty years have passed. What has been done?
The perpetrators of this inhuman crime are still out large. Union Carbide India was renamed Eveready Industries India, who now claims it is not responsible for the mess. Union Carbide in the US merged with Dow Chemicals which agian refuses to accept any liability for a plant it did not operate. In fact, the official statement of Union Carbide states:
The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation held just over half the stock. The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India. The plant was designed, built, and managed by UCIL using Indian consultants and workers. (sic)
It is disheartening to see UC pass the blame to Indian consultants and workers.
With the passage of time, it becomes more and more difficult to pin down the prime accused such as Warren Anderson, the Chairman of UC at the time.
The RBI states that it has over Rs. 1,500 crore in the compensation fund. This would translate to around Rs.25,000 per family. Would that be enough for the likes of Jyoti, who can no longer get married? Or even Bano Bi's two daughters who have no suitors even though they do not have any physical deformities, only because of the stigma attached with living in affected areas? Would it be a replacement for the bread winner who died in the accident? Would it cover the cost of medicine for the thousands affected directly, leave aside the indirect? Union Carbide has been directed by the courts to construct a 500 bed hospital in Bhopal but I doubt if that will be enough.
I guess nothing will be enough, at least for the orphans who lost everything, for the aged who lost their only support, for the new bride. We could only pray for them and take steps so that we do not have another Bhopal. The water in the region is still contaminated, affecting more people everyday. We should probably start with that.
To read more about the tragedy, visit Rediff. A slide show with some horrifying pictures is available at Greenpeace. Tell Dow to clean up Bhopal. See Time Magazine's cover on Bhopal.
posted by kpowerinfinity @ 8:57 pm
1 Comments:
At 12:44 am,
Akruti said…
Hmm,what and where are we heading towards,for the govt it will be a political issue,for the social activists,it will be an issue for getting on to the limelight.and after a while,a new news comesup,scandals again,and the focus shifts,see where we r heading,we r now putting monetary value for death, for loosing ur life or u r loved ones,we compensate them with money,we call it compensation,and it will be over,hmm,something,something which will make sense,which will touch the feelings of millions to think abt it,is it so difficult to do something like that?,why is that we always forget that even today humanvalues can be on the top.hope and wish that we the present generation remember that nothing is more worth than humanlifes.
AMEN.
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