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November 30, 2006
Day 2: The cyclists meet the MLA who represents big business instead of his constituents (who are being poisoned by the dirty factories of his chums)
CUDDALORE TO CHENNAI CYCLE TOUR
Day 2 – First milestone, Pondycherry
Reported by Nityanand Jayaraman
The day stated as usual, two cycles broke down and had to be loaded onto the car and sent to Semankuppam for repairs. The trip to Semankuppam was excellent we were at just the right time for pamphleteering, it was morning time and people were either at bus stops leaving for work or having their morning tea.
Murali and Madesh from Mettur went on a pamphleteering spree and were risking their lives to make sure everyone in sight got one. Murali's mother Dhanabagyam is an ex-worker of the Chemplast factory in Mettur and is suffering from uterine cancer and has had absolutely no help from the company. Murali's son Samivel was exposed to a deadly chlorine gas leak when he was just 20 days old, now he has to depend on a high dose of medication for the rest of his life.
What's Smelling?
After breakfast at Pudiyankuppam we passed by the Chemplast site where construction was going on at full swing. We had to take a bathroom break on the site to honor all the people who had made Chemplast a reality in Cuddalore. We could smell SPIC's shit odour already though we were 3 kms away from the factory so we decided to travel to the source of the smell which brought us to Eachangadu where SPIC is situated. From Eachangadu we went behind the SPIC factory and we were in for a really nasty surprise. The smell here was so intense that all of us began suffocating and gasping for air. The monitors have a system of rating these odours on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their intensity. We gave the odour an 8 but the monitors said that this was only a 5, an 8 would be much worse than this.
Meeting with the MLA
At 12:15 we headed for the town to meet with the local MLA Iyyappan at 12:45pm. The wind in SIPCOT was gusty and against us but we had to cycle like crazy to make it in time for the meeting. The meeting with the MLA was really explosive. Madesh from Mettur spoke about Chemplast and its impact on Mettur's agriculture, water and economy all of which are now destroyed. After a patient hearing the MLA began his spiel and said "the company claims that all these allegations are motivated and untrue, there are so many engineers working in this company and going all offensive against just one company is not the right way to go about things, the government will never do anything wrong for its people. You people should be engaged in more constructive things like planting trees".
MLA G. Iyyappan holds his seat by a slender majority in Cuddalore. He is one of those most responsible for turning a beautiful seaside paradise into a gas chamber
We were not to give up that easily if this is what Mr. MLA had to say so we began shooting questions and in a tizzy Mr. MLA had to go but not before offering water and biscuits to the cyclists. We decided to make a point and began walking out after dropping the biscuits back into the box and leaving the water bottle behind on the table. Mr. MLA ran out of his room and stopped us. He requested us to stop behaving in this fashion and said that he was pro-people and pro-poor and that he would do the right thing for the people of Cuddalore. He also assured that he would raise the issue in the assembly and also with the appropriate people at the appropriate time.
Mahatma Gandhi Hospital and Medical College
From Cuddalore town we headed to the next destination, Pondycherry. En route we halted at Kirumbakkam which was also an industrial area but residents here narrated a unique story. They were sharing their neighborhood with the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital & Medical College and the Arupadai Veedu Hospital & Medical College both of these were a blight on the landscape. Both the hospitals are water intensive and are severely burdening the ground water. In addition to this they also release their effluents onto the land, the Arupadai Veedu Hospital even injects them into the ground.
Here we met the local lake committee who offered their support and solidarity to the residents of SIPCOT. Nityanand spoke about medical waste and the problems arising during their disposal.
First milestone – Pondycherry
We had a public meeting at Pondycherry hosted by the Pondycherry Science Forum, CITU, DYFI and local organizations. They all spoke against mindless industialisation, and chemical industries and demanded more labour intensive industries. Nityanand, Mani and Parasuraman spoke about toxic industries and their impact on the environment. Nityanand made a special mention about the youth who formed the major part of the tour participants. Lot of them had lied to get permission from their colleges to participate in the tour. The day ended at 9 pm after a screening at Mettupalayam.
We will spend the night at the CPI office. Tomorrow is going to be more relaxed as we have to cover only 40kms so a bunch of us are heading out to the beach early morning.
MEANWHILE IN CHENNAI
Renowned Tamil poetess Kanimozhi inaugurates 1000 Bhopals photo exhibition
The inauguration of the 1000 Bhopals exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademy was a great success. We had Ms. K. Kanimozhi, renowned poetess and daughter of Tamilnadu Chief Minister Mr. K. Karunanidhi inaugurate the exhibition. We introduced her to the issue and updated her about the situation in Bhopal and also explained to her the situation in Cuddalore and other toxic hotpots in Tamilnadu.
She was shocked to see stark images especially from Kasargod in Kerala and the Golden Corridor in Gujarat, which were a grim reminder of the fact that we were not moving in the right direction with development.
There were about 90 exhibits in all including paintings from children of SIPCOT Cuddalore and school children from Chennai.
Ms. Kanimozhi suggested that we talk about these issue of pollution and toxics with more people especially school children in order to generate an opinion about the issue. She also said that some of the images were really heart wrenching and something needs to be done to set things right. All the major media was present at the launch to catch a glimpse of Kanimozhi.
School children from KRMM School who were part of the school out reach program also visited the exhibition later during the day to view their paintings, which were on display among the other paintings.
Posted by bhola at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
Day 1 of Cuddalore to Chennai Cycle Tour flagged off successfully by local leader Kolathur Mani
Chennai, November 27, 2006
Report From Nity: DAY 1, 11:00 pm
We set off on schedule at 11.00 am and the first cycle crsis occurred within 20 metres of the start. We got cycle fixed at Old Town, Cuddalore and carried on. Earlier the flag off was good with a decent media response. Main group representatives spoke about the situation in Cuddalore but S. Ramanathan of SACEM ended the meeting with a memorable statement "they say that if the country wants to develop the youth need to dream, in SIPCOT youth beg for a good nights sleep in order to dream.
Kolathur Mani introduced the people of Mettur at the launch he said that people living next to Chemplast's PVC factory find life very difficult and that they have come in solidarity to the people of Cuddalore. They have forfeited their daily wages to be with the residents of Cuddalore and join them in the struggle. The representatives from Mettur included Madhusudhanan, father of M. Samivel who was exposed to a deadly chlorine gas leak when he was just 20 days old.
The representatives from the West Gonur Farmers Association spoke about the condition of agriculture in Mettur. All wells are polluted in the vicinity of Chemplast and nearly 5000 acres of land has been wasted. The company does not even have an ambulance for emergencies like their frequent chlorine gas leaks due to which many residents have been seriously injured and hospitalized. The farmers also said that they have been living with Chemplast for the past 50 years and that it is extremely dishonest in their dealings with the local people.
En route participants met and spoke to passers by and people at local stalls about the purpose of their journey. They also stopped at all roadside tea stalls and zealously spoke about the problems of SIPCOT Cuddalore and about its relevance to Bhopal.
We passed the SIPCOT chemical complex but since the wind was blowing south to south east we could not smell the industries on the ECR. Despite this there were occasional strong whiffs from Shasun and Tantech. Two smells were the most noticeable, Shasun's strong detergent like smell and SPICs characteristic shit like smell that shocked people.
Just before lunch-time at Sangolikuppam, Gaana Vijay sang a Tamil Song
'Naarde Naarde' that literally means 'it smells it smells' for the people waiting for food, an appropriate song for the kinds of smells that lingered in the air.
After lunch we set off for Thyagavalli Panchayat where upon arrival the local elected representatives who had issued a resolution against
Chemplast's proposal in Cuddalore greeted us. We were also offered
refreshments which were basically local drinks filled into Coke and Sprite bottles, a neat home grown way of defeating the multinationals. We also drank tender coconut water in Thyagavalli and it tasted absolutely fantastic in complete contrast to the tender coconut in SIPCOT. The reason for this according to the locals is the absence of industries in Thyagavalli. Similar experiences have also been felt in Mettur where the groundwater has been heavily contaminated.
From Thyagavalli we reached Ambedkar Nagar for a brief period the ride
overall was extremely pleasant with a gentle cool breeze flowing throughout. The sun was pretty harsh during some parts of the day and some of the participants suffered burns.
The next stop was Chitrapettai. Here we had to go door to door to invite people for the programme. Kosu Mani of Tamilnadu Meenavar Munnetra Kazhagam, A. Mani of west Gonur Farmers Association and Kolathur Mani spoke about the situation in SIPCOT Cuddalore. Following which the LCD projector was set up for the film screening only to discover that the power plug was missing and after a 20 minute long attempt to fix the glitch plans for the screening had to be abandoned.
On departure the police at Chitrapettai escorted us to the main road and warned us to watch out for speeding vehicles, they asked us to maintain a single file as long as we were on the road.
By now it was dark and 3 cycles gave way. We somehow dragged them to Puduchatram, our halt for the night. Here the local people were not intimated so there were no arrangements for dinner so we all set off in different directions and finally found the last few Dosais in Puduchatram for dinner. This did not in anyway dampen the sprits; its 10:45 pm and people are still up and chatting. We are on the veranda of a large building in Puduchatram where we will spend the night, we have only one toilet for 25 of us. Nature's calls will have to be answered on the road side as we need to be on the road by 7am in order to stick to the schedule.
Posted by bhola at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2006
San Diego: Remembering Bhopal- Demanding Justice
UPCOMING.ORG, SAN DIEGO, NOVEMBER 25, 2006
Data ©Navteq,TeleAtlas
Saturday, December 2, 2006
12:00 PM
Horton Plaza
324 Horton Plaza
San Diego, California 92101
32.7141, -117.161
The event will be a re-enactment of the tragedy of December 2nd 1984 in Bhopal, India. The Association for India's Development and Amnesty International volunteers will perform a dien-in and will demand justice for Bhopal. Call 858-357-5355 -Rishi for more information.
Posted by bhola at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2006
Fight for Cuddalore
Youth on Cycles for Cuddalore – 28 November to 2 December
Cuddalore is another Bhopal in the making. Youth from Chennai, Cuddalore and Mettur will cycle from Cuddalore to Chennai to raise awareness about the environmental issues confronting residents of SIPCOT, Cuddalore, and highlight the threats of pollution-intensive industrialization facing Cuddalore. The cycle tour will travel through the coastal areas of Cuddalore, Pondicherry and parts of Kanchipuram and Chennai districts, and through the inland areas along GST Road. Kindly extend your support to the cycle tour by organizing solidarity activities en route.
Route and Schedule
28 November: Flag Off from Cuddalore Town. (Route: Old Town, Pachaiyankuppam, Thaikal, CUSECS 6, Rajapettai, Chitrapettai, Naduthittu, Thyagavelli, Thiruchopuram, Periyakuppam, Tamanampettai, Ayyampettai, Poochimedu, Periyapattu, Cuddalore Town). Film screening: Chitrapettai, Thyagavelli, Periyapattu. Night Halt: Periyapattu
29 November: Periyapattu to Sonnanchavadi, Semmankuppam, Sangolikuppam, Eachangadu, Kudikadu, Devanampattinam, Thazhanguda, Pondicherry. Film screening/Night Halt: Pondicherry
30 November: Pondy to Marakkanam, Tindivanam. Film screening/Night halt: Tindivanam
1 December: Tindivanam to Madurantakam, Chengalpattu. Film screening/Night halt: Chengalpattu
2 December: Chengalpattu to Kovalam, Besant Nagar. Film screening: Besant Nagar
Background:
December 3 is the 22nd anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal. In the lead-up to the anniversary of the world’s worst industrial disaster, the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (Chennai) and its supporters wish to highlight Cuddalore as a Bhopal in our own backyard.
The Tamilnadu Government has earmarked coastal Cuddalore for locating the dirtiest, most hazardous industries in Tamilnadu. Already, an 8 km stretch of the district – the SIPCOT industrial estate -- is seriously affected by pollution from more than 19 chemical industries. The State Human Rights Commission and the Indian People’s Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights have observed that SIPCOT residents are already overburdened with pollution. They have recommended against setting up any more chemical industries in the area.
Despite massive public protest and the recommendations of various expert agencies, the Tamilnadu Government is planning to intensify pollution in and around SIPCOT. In the pipeline, are the following proposals:
1.Chemplast PVC factory and marine terminal, and desalination plant, Semmankuppam and Chitrapettai
2.4000MW coal-fired thermal power plant, Naduthittu
3.A mega textile park, Periyapattu
4.A 6 million tones per annum petrochemical refinery by Nagarjuna, Thyagavelli
5.Effluents pumped into sea from Tiruppur textile dyeing units
6.Effluents pumped into sea from Ambur-Vaniyambadi leather tanneries
7.A shipbuilding yard
For more information on Bhopal and Cuddalore,
Email: nopvcever@gmail.com
OR
Visit:
www.sipcotcuddalore.com
cuddaloreonline.blogspot.com
www.bhopal.net
Issued by SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitoring, Cuddalore District Consumer Protection Organisation, DEPORT, Youth for Social Change, The Other Media, c/o 42A, 1st Floor, 5th Avenue, Besant Nagar, Chennai 600 090
Posted by bhola at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2006
IndiaChem partypooped, locals bring food to protesters
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL, MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 8, 2006
BHOPALIS, RATHER THAN BHOPAL, are perhaps the worst nightmare of the chemical industry. Just as India's high-profile alms-seekers – the Ministry of Chemicals, the Planning Commission – were all set to lay out the red carpet to chemical multinationals at the Indiachem 2006 trade fair, more than 200 survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster from Bhopal landed at the plush 5-star conference venue in Mumbai to deflate the organisers' enthusiasm by reminding them of the unfinished business in Bhopal.
The trade fair, perhaps the most important chemical industry event in India, was scheduled to begin today with a conference at Hotel Grand Intercontinental in Andheri, and an exhibition at the Goregaon grounds where the World Social Forum was held. The Minister of Chemicals & Fertilisers, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, is to deliver the keynote address. Executives from Indian and foreign chemical MNCs, including Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, United Phosphorus Ltd, were among the key speakers at the conference.
At 10.30 a.m., just as the Conference was to get underway, Bhopal activists arrived at the Hotel and chained themselves to the side of the gate. They could have obstructed the traffic. But out of consideration for all those poor rich souls staying at the Hotel, they stayed on the side belting out slogans about the Government and the Chemical industry's irresponsibility.
INDIACHEM, SHAME, SHAME - NO JUSTICE, NO BUSINESS
Indiachem, shame shame was among the tamest slogans. More educational ones like: Indiachem Kya Karega; Mulk Mein Bhopal Banega [Indiachem, what will it do? It will create Bhopals all over India.]
The streets rang with ultimatums such as: Bhopal Mein Insaaf Nahin tho Rasayan ka Vyapar Nahin. [No Justice, No Business]
The protesters also chanted slogans offering guidance for the special treatment of various industries: Zahar Banane Vaalon Ko; Jootha Maro Saalon Ko. [Makers of poison, beat them with shoes]
Within minutes, frantic organisers called the cops who responded with alacrity. But after arriving with a band of 15 male and 2 female police, woefully inadequate to handle the battle-hardened women of Bhopal, the police stood on the sidelines not knowing what to do.
By 12.30 p.m. the conference still hadn't gotten underway. In all likelihood, IndiaChem will start with lunch, with the Bhopalis having provided the appetizer.
LOCALS RALLY TO SUPPORT PROTESTERS
In true Bombay Ishtyle, the aam janata (meaning the non-5-star public, the ordinary people) were extremely supportive of the protestors. Taximen near the Hotel pooled money and fed the Bhopalis hot vada pavs (a Bombay speciality consisting of fried curried potato fritters sandwiched in a bread with a spicy chutney spread).
Even as the Bhopalis were waiting for the vada paavs, who should stop by but the Minister of Chemicals himself. Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan who was driving to the Conference to deliver his keynote address stopped his car, walked to the Bhopalis who were sitting on the sidewalk and struck up a conversation.
He had the 6 demands of the Bhopalis ready at hand. The Bhopalis wonder if he sleeps with them. While he tried to convince the Bhopalis that the Government had met all demands, the Bhopalis educated him otherwise. Paswan's secretary concurred with the Bhopalis that precious little had been done beyond promises.
Paswan has offered to meet a delegation of 10 Bhopalis after his talk in the belly of the beast.
Posted by bhola at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2006
AID Bloomington protests Dow recruiting; 100 pledge not to work for Dow
Students for Bhopal, November 12, 2006
The AID chapter at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN added another leaf to their Bhopal campaign by organizing a protest against Dow Corning, which was present at a career fair the IU campus on Thursday, November 2nd, 2006. Over 30 volunteers from AID, enthused by their recent hosting of the Students for Bhopal conference at Bloomington, wielded banners outside the career fair and distributed flyers to students entering the venue. A steady stream of protestors visited the Dow Corning representatives at their table and questioned the negligence of their company. A concerted PR campaign before, during, and after the protest ensured that the protest was covered by the Campus newspaper as well as the city newspaper through press releases, press reports, and letters to the editors. This helped spread the message that "Students need to make an Informed Choice" when applying for jobs. All that the Dow people could do was utter feeble responses that they were not part of Dow. Yeah right! Just 50% Dow, but 100% death!
The Prelude
The moment we got to know about the arrival of Dow Corning at the Life Sciences Career fair hosted by the University, it was natural to think that we should use this opportunity to organize a protest to help spread the awareness about "the dark side of DOW" amongst the students at IU. There was a two fold agenda drawn up in order to make an organized show of resistance against the company that was the perpetrator of the death of thousands on December 3, 1984. The main goal was to help enable IU students to make an "informed choice" on their career by getting to know the whole story about a company, and the second one was to ask the University to set a standard for the kind of companies that they allow on campus for such events in future. After all, setting the bar high on the companies invited to a career fair raises the standard of the University itself and in turn helps the students who invest their future on the makings of such companies.
Preparations
The preparations for the protest began 10 days before the fair and were masked in secrecy to surprise Dow and avoid preemptive interference by University officials. We used an AID sponsored Diwali Potluck to spread the word on the protest and started collecting pledges from students that "I wont work for Dow". We also collected resumes from students marked with the pledge not to work for Dow, with the intent of handing them over to Dow. This would send a symbolic message that Dow came to get resumes of students interested in working for them, but instead got many more resumes of students who would NOT work for them. We also started digging up information about Dow Corning, which was a joint venture of Dow and had its own set of issues, such as the Breast Implant litigation in the early 1990’s. We also collected information on IU/departmental policies on on-campus recruitment and networked with other student groups like the Indian Students Association, No Sweat, and Graduate Student Groups. One of the best things we did was the PR campaign where we put the knowledge gained from Media Training Workshop at the SfB Conference to work. We prepared press releases and press kits with background information, called up reporters and went in person to talk to editors, sent reminders to them to make sure they turned up and brought photographers, and prepared juicy sound bites for them. All of these ensured that the protest turn out to be a great success!
The Big Day
The night before the protest, several volunteers went chalking and flyering all around the career fair venue. We drew outlines of dead bodies and named them after real victims of the Bhopal disaster. We also added quotes like "Don’t work for Dirty Dow" and "Dow = Death". We wanted to make sure anyone even close to the venue would not miss the protest.
Talking to the press
The career fair was between 10 AM and 2AM at the IU Auditorium, and by 9:45 there were more than 10 people holding up banners and posters taking their positions. We were mildly disappointed (though not surprised) that flyers within 30 feet of the venue had been removed/washed out by the career fair organizers, but those further away had survived. The posters we held were graphic and based on a parody of Dow’s Human Element campaign. There were volunteers who were distributing flyers with pictures of Dow’s atrocities around the world (Bhopal, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Africa, and USA). We found these to be more effective in grabbing people’s attention than written material – pictures do speak more than words. These graphic evidence would remain glued to the memory of any passerby who would cringe at the thought of associating himself/herself with Dow in the future. Protestors braving the cold and the wind kindled the curiosity of students visiting the fair and only a few avoided us. The volunteers told them of the reason for the protest and how could make a difference through signing a pledge and talking to the Dow representatives inside!! Signatures for the "I won’t work for DOW" pledge form started pouring in!!
The protesters were not allowed into the venue though it was open to all IU Students. We were politely warned to keep a 30 feet distance from the venue and a couple of cop cars were on standby just to get the message across to us. A few of us, in the guise of seeking a job (we were, after all, IU Students), took the responsibility of walking in and speaking to the Dow Corning representatives on what they thought about Dow’s handling of Bhopal and on the protest being staged outside. They outright denied any association with Dow Chemical, claiming that Dow was just a share holder (a 50% share holder!) in their company, and acted surprised that we were protesting against a company that was not even present at the Career Fair. Well, that did not fool many. Looks like owning 50% of the company's shares is not much of an association!!
Most students who went in or came out of the fair stopped at the Showalter Fountain to talk with us and many signed the pledge form not to work for a company that indulges in such "inhuman activities". Over 100 people have taken the pledge and that is about 25% of all people who were at the career fair! We even had a bunch of middle schools students visit the fountain and all of them got Bhopal flyers :-)
Signing the pledge not to work for Dow
We had several members from other student groups also join us through the day and it was a wonderful exercise in coalition building. We had several reporters coming in at different points in the protest, talking to protestors, with the Dow Corning representative, and taking pictures. The campus newspaper, Indiana Daily Student, and the city newspaper, Herald Times, carried the campaign report the next day on their 2nd page. The much desired goal of creating awareness among the students to create an "informed decision" was achieved! In a nutshell, you could not have asked for a better first campaign!
Inspired by Armstrong's words, I would call this a giant leap for the Bloomington chapter, who was/is still a newbie to the world of protesting and showing resent against a giant corporation! All these would not have been possible without the humungous efforts of many a people, both on and off stage, who are recognized at the bottom. Thanks to each and every one of them. Every small effort was counted and seen, and each of us are proud to have made an attempt to make these people accountable for a horrendous deed committed 22 years ago, whose wounds are still afresh among the affected!
The Aftermath & Post-mortem
The PR campaign did not stop with the reports. We made sure we followed up with the reporters and sent letters to the editor rebutting the claims of the Dow Corning representatives that they were independent of Dow. Two of these letters were published in the campus newspaper. The 200 graphic flyers that we printed we all used up by the end of the protest! That showed us not to under-estimate the effectiveness of our efforts.
While we managed to retort to Dow Corning’s claims that they were not part of Dow, we did not expect such a defense from them, though in hindsight, it seems obvious. We should have pre-empted them from giving such a justification by having posters about it or having facts like Dow has 4 board members in Dow Corning’s board of directors. This would have made the press report more in our favor, instead of having to use letters to the editor to fill the gaps.
It is not clear if our efforts at secrecy were worth it. While we did have over 30 protestors in all, we could have get more if we’d actively used mailing lists to publicize the protest. Dow Corning had a surprise for sure, but they may have had the surprise even if we’re publicized the protest more. We may have just been a bit paranoid.
Dow has got the message, loud and clear, that students at IU will not stand by as people continue to shrivel and die at Bhopal -- without clean water, without medical care, without livelihood, without justice!
This is just the beginning. Several other groups have expressed support to kick out dirty companies like Dow from the IU campus. As we take this movement forward, each one of our voices will count!
Honor Roll
Giri, Vidhi, Preeti, Ramyaa, Suresh, Bhanu, Vamsi, Paul, Ursula, Anusha, Latha, Aquene, Yogesh, Harini, Aparna, Nithya,Rupali,Baizil, Sumit, Vidhya, Sarath, Gauthman, Vijetha, Mrs. Mythili and various members of AID, ISA, and the IU community who participated in the protest and signed the pledge form.
PR Reports & Pictures
AID Press Release
Indiana Daily Student Report
Herald Times Report
IDS Letters to the Editor
Photos of the Protest
For more information about the "Don't Work for Dirty Dow" campaign, see http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/DontWorkforDow.htm
Posted by bhola at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2006
Bhopal survivors will lead representatives of more than 2 million chemical industry victims to protest the IndiaChem 2006 trade fair
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
Press Conference, November 2, 2006
Addressing a Press Conference today, representatives of four organisations active on the lingering issues of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal declared that they would go to Mumbai on November 6 to protest against the Indian government's red-carpet welcome to multinational chemical corporations.
Victims of toxic gas exposure and contaminated ground water in Bhopal will be leading representatives of over 2 million victims of chemical corporations in the country in opposing the largest Indian chemical industry trade fair – Indiachem 2006, to be held in Mumbai from November 8, 2006.
The 350 Indian and multinational corporations participating in the trade fair include Chisso Corporation responsible for the Minamata mercury pollution disaster in Japan and Mitsubishi Corporations that caused large scale radioactive pollution and forest felling in Malaysia. In addition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, 7 secretaries of the Central government will be taking part in the conference being organized as part of Indiachem 2006.
Representatives of more than 2 million victims of ongoing industrial disasters from Mettur and Cuddalore in Tamilnadu, Vapi and Ankleshwar in Gujarat, Warangal and Patancheru in Andhra Pradesh and Eloor in Kerala will be joining Bhopal victims for the demonstrations against the trade fair in Mumbai.
Despite the irreparable damage to human health and environment caused by chemical corporations in India the Indian government and the Indian Prime Minister are extending a red carpet welcome to multinational chemical corporations offering economic incentives and relaxation of rules related to environmental pollution and legal liabilities in case of industrial disasters.
The government is set upon creating Special Economic Zones in 9 states where multinational corporations are promised unfettered profit making. While Warren Anderson and other officials of Union carbide responsible for the massacre in Bhopal continue to abscond from justice the Indian government is making secret deals with foreign multinationals by which these corporations would be absolved of liabilities in case of a disaster.
Rashida Bee, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
94256 88215
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
93290 26319
Shahid Noor
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
98261 82226
Satinath Sarangi
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
98261 67369
Contact :
House No. 12, Gali No. 2, Near Naseer Masjid, Bag Umrao Dulha, Bhopal 462 010
For latest information on Bhopal disaster please visit www.bhopal.net
Posted by bhola at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
November 04, 2006
Protestors decry Dow at career fair: students blame company for not honoring liabilities it inherited from Union Carbide
Whitney Mitchell, Indiana Daily Student, November 3, 2006
Vidhya Ranganathan, a member of the Bloomington chapter of the Association for India’s Development, stands in protest of Dow Chemicals outside the IU Auditorium during the Life Sciences Career Fair Thursday. Photo: Sarah Markley • IDS
Students from the Association for India's Development, donning poster board signs depicting graphic images of chemical explosions and dead babies, spent four hours handing out fliers and protesting outside the Life Sciences Career Fair Thursday against Dow Corning Silicones, a company recruiting at the fair.
"Dow Chemicals is responsible for the most heinous crimes against Indian people by a corporation," said Ph.D. student Yogesh Simmhan, former president of the Bloomington chapter of the Association for India's Development. "They have complete disregard for human health and a history of complete negligence."
A 1984 accident at the Union Carbide chemical plant, now owned by Dow Chemical, in Bhopal, India, released toxic gases into the air killing thousands of people, graduate student and Association for India's Development activist Harini Gopalakrishnan said. More than 150,000 people have suffered extensive mental and physical disabilities as a result of the accident.
In 1984, 3,000 people in Bohpal suffered immediate death after a chemical leak occurred at the Union Carbide factory, which has since been purchased by Dow Chemical. More than 50,000 people are said to have permanent disabilities as a result of the accident, according to a 2004 article on the BBC's Web site.
In a negligence case in the 1990s, Dow Chemical settled for $3.2 billion in a class action lawsuit filed by women who claimed the silicone breast implants they had were made by Dow Chemical and caused multiple health problems, Gopalakrishnan said.
"You still have children today being born with physical anomalies and people that are still breathing toxic air drinking toxic water because Dow will not clean up the site (in India)," she said. "We are protesting to try to inform students. We want them to see the darker side of the company. We want the University to set a standard for the kind of companies they bring on campus."
Dow Corning Silicones is not directly affiliated with Dow Chemical but holds 50 percent of its stock, Dow Corning representative K. Shawn McClarnon said. "We are very independent, we aren't a division and we don't report to Dow Chemical," he said. "Dow Corning doesn't have any more influence on Dow Chemical than another company would, and they are protesting the wrong company."
AID students disagreed with this statement.
"The problem is, Dow Corning says they aren't affiliated with Dow, but they hold 50 percent of their stock," Simmhan said. "If something happened to Dow their company would be half of what it is today, so it is not accurate for Dow Corning to say they aren't associated with them."
Association for India's Development activists distributed fliers about Dow Chemical to students to inform them of the Bhapal chemical disaster and Dow's company history. They also asked students to sign a pledge vowing not to work for Dow until the company took responsibility for the Bhopal accident. Throughout the course of the day the group recorded more than 90 signatures.
"At first I didn't think I'd sign it because Dow is a huge company and you never know who you'll end up working for, but then I thought about it, and I don't want to work for a company with these sort of ethical problems," graduate student and attendee of the fair Michelle Wynn said.
McClarnon said he didn't think the protest would affect Dow Corning's success at the career fair.
"The story they're telling people is really inaccurate," McClarnon said. "We have had a good track record recruiting at Indiana and are going to continue. What happened in India 20 years ago is a tragedy, and we are probably just as sorry about it as those people out there protesting."
Posted by bhola at 07:51 AM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2006
Opportunity to question Dow at community meeting on November 8
The Bay Times, November 01, 2006
The state Department of Environmental Quality and the Dow Chemical Co. will host the next quarterly Tri-Cities dioxin community meeting Nov. 8 at the Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State St., Saginaw.
The meeting is open to the public and will last from 6:30-9 p.m.
Staff from the DEQ, Department of Community Health and Dow will be available one-half hour before and one-half hour after the meeting for individual discussion with the public.
Agenda items for the meeting will include an update on the Upper Tittabawassee River-Floodplain GeoMorph sampling and analysis; an update on Priority 2 interim response activities, Midland sampling and the revised Remedial Investigation Work Plan development; status of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process; an overview of the additional analyses in progress and planned on the University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study results; and the Saginaw River Sediment Trap Demonstration Project.
There will be time for questions and discussion on other topics.
The meeting agenda and related documents will be posted online at www.michigan.gov/deqdioxin and may be accessed by clicking on
the ''DEQ/Dow Community Involvement'' and ''Dow Off-site Corrective Action'' links on the right side of the page.
Posted by bhola at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)