May 05, 2008
Bhopali Kids Drive Home their Demands to PM
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Five month old water contamination affected Nida outside Manmohan Singh's residence today
NEW DELHI, 5 May, 2008 -- More than 40 Bhopali children – the Generation Next of Union Carbide's victims - along with their parents addressed the media in front of the Prime Minister's House. Braving the risks of gathering in a high-security zone, the children said that the Government must be ashamed to make Bhopal victims walk and wait just to get their basic rights to health, livelihood and clean environment. "We are of the same age as Dr. Singh's grandchildren," said 11-year old Yasmin Khan, one of the youngsters who completed the arduous 800km march to Delhi. "Would he let his grandchildren drink poisoned water, or see them sitting on the hot pavement for 40 days?"
On 16 April, Yasmin wrote a letter to the PM with blood drawn from Bhopal victims, seeking an hour of his time. This letter was delivered to the Prime Minister along with hand-written notes from more than 500 children from across the country. It has been more than three months since the PM was first asked for an appointment, and told about the Bhopalis' intent to undertake a padayatra to New Delhi. Since then, 2800 people from 18 countries have sent faxes to the Prime Minister's office urging him to meet the Bhopalis' demands. In a meeting with the Bhopalis on 29 April – more than a month ago – Principal Secretary in the PMO, Mr. T.K.A. Nair said he would help them meet the PM. So far, delegations of Bhopalis and their supporters have met various ministers and MPs, the bureaucrats in all relevant departments, and the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal. The GoM, headed by Arjun Singh, said it agreed with survivors' demands for an empowered commission and legal action against Dow Chemical and Union Carbide.
The Bhopal organizations are demanding an Empowered Commission on Bhopal to execute social, economic and medical rehabilitation, environmental clean-up and provision of clean drinking water. The groups have submitted a draft parliamentary bill for the Commission to the GoM and the PMO. According to the groups, the Commission should include representatives of survivors organizations and considering the adverse effect on the Generation Next of Bhopal victims, must function at least for 30 years.
In demanding justice, the Bhopal organizations are calling for government action to produce the authorized representative of Union Carbide as well as former Carbide Chairman, Warren Anderson who are charged with culpable homicide and other grave offences. They are demanding that the government must make Dow Chemical, 100% owner of Union Carbide, to clean up toxic contamination in and around the factory. Further, the organizations are calling for de-registration of Dursban and two other pesticides registered by payment of bribes, and revocation of the approval given to Reliance Industries to import Union Carbide's confiscable Unipol PP technology.
For more information, contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman – 9717516003
Rachna Dhingra – 9717516005.
Posted by tim at 12:11 AM | Comments (0)
April 29, 2008
'Generation-next' Bhopal victims accuse govt of criminal negligence
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karamachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
29th-April-2008
At a press conference in New Delhi today, parents of five children with congenital birth defects from Bhopal presented their case of criminal negligence of the Indian government towards the next generation of victims of Union Carbide’s poisons. One of the parents was exposed to Methyl Isocyanate and other gases during the 1984 disaster, two are exposed to both toxic gases and poisonous chemicals and heavy metals like mercury in their drinking water from the community hand pumps. Two parents were exposed to both toxic gases and contaminated water. The parents and their children who addressed the press conference today are part of the 30-day long dharna at Jantar Mantar by three Bhopal based survivors organizations. They will accompany a team to get endorsements from Members of Parliament on a draft parliamentary bill for an “Empowered Commission on Bhopal Act, 2008”.
The parents said that the central government was fully aware as early as 1990, through a prematurely aborted three year study carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research, that children of gas affected parents suffered from congenital physical and mental growth disorders. The state government on its part provided official assistance for heart surgery and congenital brain anomalies to a mere 27 children under a program called SPARC (Special Assistance to At Risk Children). However, that was terminated in 1997 citing financial constraints. The parents of three children born with brain damage, mental retardation and cleft lip & palette said that the central government continues to disregard a Supreme Court order of 1991 that directed medical insurance for at least 100,000 children born to gas exposed parents. The central government is yet to provide medical insurance coverage to a single member of the “generation next” of Bhopal victims, said the parents.
Parents of two children born with brain damage and congenitally malformed eye possibly linked to ground water contamination said that they and their children are denied free health care at the hospitals meant for care of the gas affected. This is despite a 2006 report of the state government’s Centre for Rehabilitation Studies on multi-systemic injuries caused by contaminated ground water.
Two of the parents who were exposed to the gas leak in 1984 are being exposed to contaminants in their drinking water since they settled themselves close to the factory after it was abandoned. They said that they and their children do qualify for free treatment at the government hospitals. However, there are no facilities for detection, treatment and rehabilitation of children born with congenital disorders in the health care system, they said.
As early as 1996, quarterly monitoring reports of the state Pollution Control Board, confirmed that the water in the community hand pumps contained toxic chemicals and heavy metals in high concentrations. In 2004, the Supreme Court of India directed the government to provide clean drinking water to the 25, 000 residents of communities in the neighbourhood of the abandoned pesticide factory. In April 2006 the Prime Minister had promised action on supply of piped water to this population. However, not a drop of clean water has been made available, the children’s parents said. If and when the project is completed under the JNURM scheme, it would only provide water to those who can pay “user fees”. The parents said that many families in these communities are hardly able to make their ends meet and would not be able to pay user fees for drinking water.
The parents of the five children, all of whom work for low wages, said that the central government was also callous towards their pleas for monthly assistance of Rs. 1000/- for the special needs of children born with congenital deformities. They said that the Rs. 150/- per month assistance given by the state government was too meagre to even pay for the costs of transporting the children for medical check ups.
The parents demanded that the central government wake up to the plight of the tens of thousands of children of parents who have suffered chemical exposure through gas and water in Bhopal. In addition to special medical assistance, community based rehabilitation centres and monetary assistance, they called for research and monitoring programs to assess the magnitude of the problem and for early detection of such defects.
Information on the five children from Bhopal present at today's press conference
For More Information Contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman: 9717516003
Rachna Dhingra: 9717516005
S-3, Tulsi Towers, Patel Nagar, Behind Sangam Cinema, Bhopal, MP-462001
Posted by tim at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2008
1000 RTI Campaign to Break PM's Silence on Pending Bhopal Issues
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
NEW DELHI, 26 April, 2008 – At least a 1000 people, mostly Delhi residents, will send RTI applications to the Prime Minister's Office over the next week seeking answers to long-standing questions regarding the Bhopal disaster. Twenty three years after the disaster, even the most basic information required to address the rehabilitation needs of survivors is not available. What poisons leaked that day? What has the Government done to rehabilitate the victims? Why are gas survivors being asked to pay for health care? Why are children still being born deformed? Why is the Government helping Union Carbide and Dow Chemical?
The mass RTI campaign will also ask the Prime Minister for information regarding the status of the Bhopalis' request for an appointment with the Prime Minister. About 50 Bhopalis, who marched 800 km from Bhopal to reach Delhi on 28 March, had alerted the PMO that they wanted to meet him Prime Minister as early as 20 February. Since then, more than 1700 people have sent faxes to the PMO in support of the Bhopal padayatris.
"It is unfortunate that the Prime Minister could not find any time in the last two months to spend on people who have been neglected by the government for two decades. As a citizen, I want to find out why. I want to know what the PM has done to reach clean water in Bhopal, to clean up toxic wastes and hold the guilty companies responsible since he last promised the Bhopalis two years ago that he would do all this," said RTI activist Arvind Khejriwal addressing a press conference at the end of the first day of the RTI campaign. Leader of the Revolutionary Socialist Party Abani Roy also filed an RTI application today.
RTI has come in handy for the Bhopalis. Till date, they have filed more than 100 applications with agencies in the State and Centre. Information unearthed through RTI revealed, in one case, that Dow Chemical had been given license to operate its silicone factory on the basis of false information. In another case, RTI activists in Pune discovered that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had cleared Dow's proposal for an R&D plant on the basis of a mere 3-page project proposal.
However, two separate applications filed recently with the PMO invoking the "Life or Liberty" clause have failed to elicit any response. The applications sought information relating to the survivors' appointment with the PM, and for rights to inspect all files concerning the Bhopal disaster and the PMO's negotiations with Dow Chemical. Applications under Life and Liberty have to be responded to within two days. The applicants have lodged a formal complaint against the PMO with the Central Information Commission. "The blatant disregard shown by the Prime Minister's Office to citizens' right to information is shameful, and speaks volumes about the office's attitude to transparency and accountability" said Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
For more information, contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman: 9717516003
Rachna Dhingra: 9717516004
House No. S3, Tulsi Towers, Patel Nagar, Near Sangam Talkies, Bhopal 462001
Posted by tim at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2008
Bhopalis Protest Agri Ministry Inaction on Dow Bribery Scandal
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information & Action
PRESS RELEASE
banned in the US, sold freely in India after Dow's bribes secured its registration
NEW DELHI, 25 APRIL, 2008 -- Thirty survivors of the Bhopal Gas disaster, staged a die-in in front of the Agriculture Ministry demanding cancellation of registration of three pesticides Dursban, Nurelle and Pride made by American multinational Dow Chemical Company. The Bhopal activists pointed out that Dow Chemical has admitted to paying $200,000 (Rs. 88 lakhs) in bribes to Agriculture Ministry officials to expedite registration of the three pesticides. The company had to pay a fine of US $325,000 (Rs. 1.43 crores) to the Securities Exchange Commission for violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act last year. They charged the Minister of Agriculture with failing to keep his promise of May 4, 2007 to the Parliament of taking action against the company after the CBI submitted its investigation report on this crime of bribery.
The Bhopal survivors who are on the 27th day of their dharna at Jantar Mantar after a grueling 800 kilometer padayatra from Bhopal said that because of the Minister's inaction, the three illegally registered pesticides continue to be produced and marketed in India. Dursban, one of the three pesticides, is banned for home use in the USA because it is a neurotoxin that can cause permanent damage to children's brain. "Dow's Dursban will rob Indian children of their childhood and their lives. The only thing more scandalous than permitting its use by taking bribes is allowing its continued use even after the bribery was exposed," said Yasmin Khan, a 11-year old child from Bhopal who is among the fifty who walked from Bhopal to New Delhi.
Expedited registration resulted in generating an estimated US $435,000 (Rs. 1.9 crores) from accelerated sales out of which US $ 330,000 (Rs. 1.45 crores) went to Dow Chemicals, USA. On August 16, 2007, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a First Information Report against the Indian government officials and consultants of Dow's Indian subsidiary after raiding the company's offices in Faridabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Bharuch and Ghaziabad. However, till date, the CBI has not taken any action against either the officials of Dow's Indian office or its US parent.
For more information, contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman: 9717516003
Rachna Dhingra: 9717516005
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
B5/136, First Floor, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110 029
Facts on the Dow Chemical Dursban Bribery Scandal
A factsheet on the proscribed neuro-toxic pesticide Dursban (Word doc)
WHO GAVE: The Dow Chemical Company, USA through its Indian subsidiary.
TO WHOM: Officials of the Central Insecticide Registration Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and Agriculture Ministry officials in Maharashtra.
FOR WHAT: Faster registration of three pesticides "Pride, Nurelle-D and Dursban 10G.
TO WHAT END: Expedited registration resulted in generating an estimated 435,000 US $ from accelerated sales out of which 330,000 US $ went to Dow Chemicals, USA.
WHEN: Between 1996 and 2001. Nurelle-D registered on July 29, 1997, Dursban registered on April 24, 1998 and Pride registered on May 5, 2000.
HOW MUCH: Over $200,000
THE BRIBE BREAK-UP
Money to register its products $39,700
State-level agriculture inspectors $87,400
Gifts, travel and entertainment $37,000
Government officials $19,000
Sales tax officials $11,800
Excise tax officials $3,700
Custom officials $1,500
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE ABOUT IT:
In USA: On February 13, 2007 the Securities and Exchange Commission asked Dow Chemical to pay a fine of 325,000 US $s which the company paid. Dow admitted to giving bribe and paid the fine.
In India: Punishment for giving bribe under Indian Penal Code: Upto one year's imprisonment with fine
On May 4, 2007, Minister of Agriculture assured the Indian Parliament that he has ordered an investigation and action will be taken against the company after investigation is over.
On August 16, 2007 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a First Information Report against Indian government officials and Indian consultants of Dow Chemical's subsidiary after raiding offices
of Dow Chemical's Indian subsidiary in Faridabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Bharuch and Ghaziabad.
Status as on April 9, 2008:
a. No action initiated against Dow Chemical, USA despite its admitting the crime.
b. No action taken against Indian officials and Dow Chemical's Indian consultants despite submission of CBI's investigation report.
Posted by tim at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2008
Dow’s Pune Project Clearance Repeats Mistakes that Caused Bhopal Disaster
PRESS RELEASE
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
A factsheet on Dow's R & D project near Pune (Word doc)
NEW DELHI, 23 April, 2008 -- The numerous irregularities, undue haste and lack of due diligence characterizing the preferential manner in which Dow Chemical’s projects are being cleared in India is a repeat of the mistakes that led to the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, said Bhopal activists who are on their 26th day of dharna at Jantar Mantar. In Chakan, Pune, the Centre and State Governments have permitted Dow’s Rs. 300 crore project -- allegedly a chemical R&D plant – near a residential area without reviewing any of the mandatory documents such as project report and environmental impact assessment. “Dow’s project was secretly cleared by the Pollution Control Board (MPCB) on the basis of a three-page proposal, and without reviewing the mandatory Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation,” said Justice (Retd) Kholse Patil of Lok Shasan Andolan. Patil, and his colleague Vilas Sonawane, are leading the effort by villagers of Shinde Vasuli – the site of the Dow plant – to prevent Dow from setting up in Chakan. Villagers there stopped construction of the R&D plant in January 2008, and have held fast against the project despite police attempts to browbeat them into submission. “Let’s not forget that secrecy, haste, and the willingness to bend rules to accommodate multinational interests were essential ingredients in the recipe for the Bhopal disaster,” Patil said.
Pune-based engineers, contacted by Intelligent Pune – a local magazine that published startling exposes of the irregularities surrounding the Dow project – say that the MPCB has cleared this proposal in record time while more than 1500 industrial proposals that have fulfilled all criteria are still pending approval.
On March 12, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board issued a fresh consent mandating Union environmental ministry clearance and submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment. But the Prime Minister, who heads the Ministry of Environment & Forests, has done nothing to insist that Dow submit the EIA and seek clearance before re-commencing construction at the site.
“The PM seems to have given his word to Dow Chemical, and that is probably what is preventing him from delivering on the promise he made to the Bhopalis,” said Bhopal Group for Information and Action’s Satinath Sarangi. Sarangi is one of 50 people who walked 800km from Bhopal to Delhi seeking an appointment with the Prime Minister. After nearly a month in Delhi, the agitating Bhopalis are yet to hear from the PM.
Experts suggest that what little is known about the project indicates that it is like a medium-size production unit that will generate hazardous wastes, use more than 38 toxic chemicals and engage in risky, often unpredictable experiments. Contrary to Dow’s claims of safety, experts have said that given the profile of chemicals proposed to be used, the development of pesticides cannot be ruled out. “We are not prepared to listen to pre-Bhopal era style of assurances that the plant is safe. We want to know what Dow will use, what it will manufacture, and what the impacts will be,” said Sonawane. Concerns over Dow Chemical’s alleged R&D centre are also fuelled by the company’s track record of developing war chemicals such as Agent Orange and Napalm, and the hush-hush surrounding this project.
Recently, the Maharashtra Industries Department denied an information request filed by RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi seeking copies of the project proposal, MoU and other communications. The Department claimed that divulging such information would affect the “scientific or economic interests of the State, relations with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.” The Department also said that the information includes commercial confidence and trade secrets, and that Dow had turned down a request to divulge the information. Curiously, a Review Committee set up by the Government in response to the protests of the villagers has also recommended that the Detailed Project Report should be shared with villagers. Another RTI request filed earlier by a volunteer with the Bhopal campaign in July 2007 is pending in the Maharashtra Information Commission since December 2007.
The shroud of secrecy clothing the project, and Dow’s association with Union Carbide, has catalysed Puneikars into coalescing a “Kick Out Dow; Save Pune” platform, bringing together prominent citizens, intellectuals, students, teachers and workers organizations. Today, the platform is organizing a press conference in Pune in solidarity with the Carbide-affected people from Bhopal who are on strike at Jantar Mantar.
For more information, contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman. Cell: 9717516003
Rachna Dhingra. Cell: 9717516005
c/o International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
B5/136, First Floor, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi 110 029
Posted by tim at 02:42 PM | Comments (0)
Government of India-Dow deal on Bhopal illegal, legal professionals say
PRESS RELEASE April 23, 2008
Lokayat
Pune Municipal Employees Union
Pune Shahar Molkarin Sangathana
Sarva Shramik Sangathana, Pune
Pune, 23 April, 2008 -- More than 280 legal professionals, including retired judges and eminent lawyers, have said the attempts by the Prime Minister's office to grant immunity to Dow Chemical from its Bhopal liabilities are unconstitutional and illegal. A memorandum signed by lawyers, retired judges and law students says that Government of India is colluding with Dow Chemical to extinguish is legal liability in an exchange of promise to invest $ 1 billion in India. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, counsel for Dow in the MP high court and co-chairman of the US-India CEO Forum Mr. Ratan Tata are playing key role in helping Dow Chemical walk away from its legal liabilities. "Seen in light of the case in Madhya Pradesh High Court, this collusion constitutes a Contempt of Court by the Government", the memorandum states.
In 2005, the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals had asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court to direct Dow Chemical to deposit Rs. 100 crores as advance towards clean-up of contamination in Bhopal. A note prepared by the former Cabinet Secretary Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi refers to letters from Ratan Tata, and from Dow Chemical to the Indian Ambassador in USA highlighting Dow's difficulty in investing in India unless the application filed by the Department of Chemicals is withdrawn. The Cabinet Secretary concludes that ". . .given the scope of future investments in the sector, it stands to reason that instead of continuing to agitate these issues in court for a protracted period, due consideration be given to the prospect of settling these issues appropriately. An important aim is to remove uncertainties and pave the way for promoting investments in the sector."
Dow claims on its website that: “Dow never owned or operated the plant, which today is under the control of the Madhya Pradesh state government. Dow acquired the shares of Union Carbide Corporation more than 16 years after the tragedy, and 10 years after the $470 million settlement agreement – paid by Union Carbide Corporation and Union Carbide India, Limited – was approved by the Indian Supreme Court.” However, as the memorandum argues, citing numerous US Supreme Court Judgements, by acquiring Union Carbide, Dow has inherited both the assets as well the pending liabilities of Carbide.
The memorandum signed by some of the top legal luminaries of the country, including Retd. Justice of Supreme Court Justice P. B. Sawant, Advocates Prashant Bhushan, Indira Jaisingh, Mihir Desai, as well as many other advocates from Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore, argues that the principles of "polluter pays" and strict and absolute liability for compensation of affected persons, and remediation of damaged health and environment are well established in Indian law. By virtue of this, Union Carbide, and now its successor company Dow Chemical are responsible for the environmental clean-up of the Bhopal site as well as compensation and health reparations Through this proposed settlement, the Government of India is contemplating letting Dow off the hook, even while failing to discharge its own statutory duties of protecting the environment and holding the polluters liable.
In March 1992 the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal ordered confiscation of all properties of Union Carbide in India. However following its acquisition by Dow Chemical in 2001, Dow has refused to present its subsidiary before the court, and on the other hand, has continued to profit from the unlawful sale of Union Carbide's properties in India. For example, in 2006, the Government of India approved the sale of Union Carbide's UNIPOL technology through Dow to Reliance Industries. While the Government is allowing Union Carbide to sell its products in India, when it comes to forcing it to appear before the court, it claims it has not been able to locate Carbide's correct address so that notice can be served on it in the environmental clean-up matter.
Survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, and victims of water contamination are currently camped out in Jantar Mantar after a 800 km padyatra from Bhopal to Delhi. Besides their demand for a special empowered commission to address issues of rehabilitation, the Bhopalis have also demanded that the Government should pursue Union Carbide and Dow for their respective liabilities, and that the Government should abandon efforts to shield Dow from liabilities for clean-up.
The Government of India is trying hard to ride roughshod over the protests of the Bhopal gas survivors and free Dow from its legal liabilities arising out of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. It is willing to sell out the interests of more than one lakh of its own people just for a foreign investment of $1billion. This same eagerness of the Govt of India to allow Dow to enter India trampling all laws and norms, its willingness to sell out of the interests of the health and livelihoods of the people of the country just for a few dollars of FDI, is again evident in the way Dow has been allowed to sell the pesticide Dursban in India, and even allow it to set up a plant to manufacture this pesticide at Lote Parshuram in Ratnagiri District in India.
• Dow has admitted to bribing Indian officials to get this pesticide registered in India. In February 2007, the US Security and Exchange Commission reported that Dow has admitted to paying two lakh dollars (Rs. 80 lakhs) in bribes to Indian officials to get three pesticides registered in India. One of these pesticides is Dursban or chlorpyrifos.
• Dursban is proven to cause brain damage in children. It is banned for household use in USA, and environmental activists in that country are agitating demanding a complete ban on this pesticide because of its deadly toxicity. In 2003, Dow paid a fine of two million dollars (Rs. 8 crores) to the state of New York for illegally advertising Dursban as "safe". Yet Dow is not only allowed to manufacture and sell Dursban in India, in its literature for Dursban in India, Dow claims that Dursban is essentially safe for humans and domestic animals!
Given its willingness to bow before the financial might of Dow, when this MNC actually comes up with a proposal to invest $100 million and set up a R&D centre near Pune, the government is obviously going to bend over backwards and give it all the necessary clearances including environmental clearances, violating all our environmental laws, even if the R&D centre threatens to pollute the entire area and destroy the livelihoods and health of the people of the region. That this project is going to be very harmful is evident from the absurd lengths to which the Government is going to deny us a copy of the project report and the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government and Dow Chemical Company. In reply to an RTI application asking for copies of these two documents, filed with the Department of Industries, Mantralaya, Mumbai, the reply received was that under Section 8(1) (a) of the RTI Act, this information cannot be given. Under this section, information which would “prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India” or “relations with a foreign state” can be denied. Applying this section to information about Dow’s R&D project is simply absurd. What has information regarding Dow, a criminal company, got to do with the sovereignty and integrity of the country?
We, socially concerned activist organizations of Pune, demand that:
1. The Government should immediately agree to the demands of the heroic Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors:
• Set up a special empowered commission to address issues of rehabilitation for the Bhopalis;
• Pursue Union Carbide and Dow for their respective liabilities;
• Abandon efforts to shield Dow from liabilities for clean-up.
2. Investigate and take action against Dow for bribing Indian officials to register Dursban in India, and immediately ban its manufacture and sale in India.
3. Immediately cancel the permission given to Dow Chemical for setting up a Research and Development Centre in Shinde Vasuli near Pune.
Alka Joshi, Neeraj Jain
Lokayat
Medha Thatte
Pune Shahar Molkarin Sangathana
Mukta Manohar
PMC Employees Kamgar Union
P. N.Palekar Sarva Shramik Sangathana
Posted by tim at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2008
Government of India-Dow deal illegal, legal professionals say
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
NEW DELHI, 21 April, 2008 -- More than 280 legal professionals, including retired judges and eminent lawyers, have said the attempts by the Prime Minister's office to grant immunity to Dow Chemical from its Bhopal liabilities are unconstitutional and illegal. A memorandum signed by lawyers, retired judges and law students says that Government of India has colluded with Dow Chemical to extinguish is legal liability in an exchange of promise to invest $ 1 billion in India. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, counsel for Dow in the MP high court and co-chairman of the US-India CEO Forum Mr. Ratan Tata are playing key role in helping Dow Chemical walk away from its legal liabilities. "Seen in light of the case in Madhya Pradesh High Court, this collusion constitutes a Contempt of Court by the Government", the memorandum states.
In 2005, the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals had asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court to direct Dow Chemical to deposit Rs. 100 crores as advance towards clean-up of contamination in Bhopal. A note prepared by the former Cabinet Secretary Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi refers to letters from Ratan Tata, and from Dow Chemical to the Indian Ambassador in USA highlighting Dow's difficulty in investing in India unless the application filed by the Department of Chemicals is withdrawn. The Cabinet Secretary concludes that ". . .given the scope of future investments in the sector, it stands to reason that instead of continuing to agitate these issues in court for a protracted period, due consideration be given to the prospect of settling these issues appropriately. An important aim is to remove uncertainties and pave the way for promoting investments in the sector."
Addressing a press conference today, Supreme Court Advocate Prashant Bhushan said that the Governments of India, and Madhya Pradesh and Dow Chemical are "joint tort feasors" and are collectively responsible for the condition of the Bhopal site and its surroundings. Through this proposed settlement, the Government of India is contemplating letting Dow off the hook, even while failing to discharge its own statutory duties of protecting the environment and holding the polluters liable.
Citing numerous Supreme Court precedents, Mr. Bhushan argued that the principles of "polluter pays" and strict and absolute liability for compensation of affected persons, and remediation of damaged health and environment are well established in Indian law. The Environmental Protection Act, based on which the Department of Chemicals application was filed, empowers the Government to impose the cost of remedial measures on polluters, and even recover it retrospectively if needed.
Dow has argued that its wholly-owned subsidiary Union Carbide is a separate legal entity that handles its own liabilities, and that the Government of India should pursue Union Carbide and not Dow. "Dow's argument that the Government should pursue Union Carbide is specious. Carbide has been an absconder since 1992. Dow knows very well that its subsidiary will not respond to summons from Indian courts," said Adv. Bhushan.
"As a 100% owner of Union Carbide after the merger, Dow is saddled with successor liability. Dow's attempts to use the corporate veil separating it and Union Carbide to evade liability is demonstrably fraudulent," said Bhushan.
In March 1992 the Chief Judicial Majistrate, order confiscation of all properties of Union Carbide in India. However following its acquisition by Dow Chemical in 2001, Dow has served as an agent as an unlawful sale of Union Carbide's properties in India. In 2006, the Government of India approved the sale of Union Carbide's UNIPOL technology through Dow to Reliance Industries. "It is very curious that the Government has been able to locate Union Carbide to facilitate sales of its products in India. But it claims it has not been able to locate Carbide's correct address so that notice can be served on it in the environmental clean-up matter," said Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
Survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, and victims of water contamination are currently camped out in Jantar Mantar after a 800 km padyatra from Bhopal to Delhi. Besides their demand for a special
empowered commission to address issues of rehabilitation, the Bhopalis have also demanded that the Government should pursue Union Carbide and Dow for their respective liabilities, and that the Government should abandon efforts to shield Dow from liabilities for clean-up.
See also US attorney Rajan Sharma's article on Dow's inheritance of Union Carbide's Bhopal liabilities.
For more information, contact: Rachna Dhingra: +91 9717516005
Posted by tim at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2008
Delhi Citizens and Organizations Rally for Bhopal
New Delhi, 18 April 2008: More than 100 citizens and members of Delhi based civil society groups today marched in support of the struggle of the Bhopal Gas survivors who have been sitting in a dharna at Jantar Mantar for the last 20 days in the hope to meet the Prime Minister with their demands. The rally started from Mandi house and ended after a public meeting at the Bhopal dharna point at Jantar Mantar.
Participating in the rally, National Secretary of the Communist Party of India and Member of Parliament, Mr. D. Raja, who visited the dharna sthal for the second time, extended his and his party's support to the struggle of the Bhopalis and said that the party will raise the matter in the Parliament and also outside.
Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy President, JNU Teachers Union, Members of Lok Raj Sangathana, Delhi Shramik Sangathana, Sanjha Manch, National Alliance of Peoples' movement, Jan Sangharsh Vahini, Naga peoples' movement for human rights, Amnesty International-India along with other Delhi solidarity groups participated in the rally and extended their support to the fight of the survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster. These organizations and individuals also resolved to work towards increasing the pressure on the Prime Minister's Office to ensure that the Prime Minister meets the demands of Bhopal survivors at the earliest.
Bhopal survivors currently camped out at Jantar Mantar after walking more than 800 kilometers from Bhopal to Delhi on foot and have vowed that they will not return to Bhopal until the PM meets them and agrees to the two demands- to set up an empowered commission for provision of medical, social, economic and environmental rehabilitation to the people poisoned by Union Carbide and their children for the next 30 years and take legal action against Dow Chemicals.
For more details contact:
Madhumita Dutta: 9717516005 or Shalini Sharma: 9891442037
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
Posted by tim at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2008
Group of Ministers on Bhopal endorse Bhopal survivors' demands
Govt to continue legal efforts to make Dow pay
NEW DELHI, 17 April, 2008 -- Representatives of the three organizations working amongst people affected by Carbide's poisons expressed their satisfaction with the response of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal after their meeting with the group this afternoon. The organizations had led a march of 50 Bhopal survivors and their supporters from Bhopal to Delhi and have been on dharna in Jantar Mantar for 20 days.
The GoM assured the Bhopal delegation that it would endorse and forward the Bhopalis' demand for a special commission to address rehabilitation, and for legal action against Dow and Carbide, to the Prime Minister. The GoM said it would have the Law Ministry examine the draft bill prepared by the Bhopal organizations before tabling in the parliament. The GoM also emphasized that it has never conceded the Madhya Pradesh Government's request for inclusion of 20 additional municipal wards in Bhopal as gas-affected. The Group clarified that it had requested the MP Government to submit data regarding gas-related deaths and injuries in the 20 wards. But no such data has been submitted till date, it said.
GoM chairman and Human Resources Minister Mr. Arjun Singh said that a special commission for Bhopal is justified despite the lack of precedent for any such commission, because the Bhopal disaster itself is of an unprecedented nature.
The GoM also expressed its support for the demand of the three organizations for legal action against Dow and Carbide. Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan assured the Bhopal delegation that the Government will continue its efforts to make Dow Chemical pay the Rs. 100 crores as advance for environmental remediation. Mr. Paswan also admitted that after the recent fire incident at a toxic waste facility in Ankleshwar that was destined to receive Bhopal wastes, any attempts to send wastes anywhere else in India will be met with opposition from local residents.
Representatives from the three organizations currently sitting on dharna at Jantar Mantar have till date met Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan (Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister), Chief Secretary to PM Mr. T.K.A Nair, Rajya Sabha MPs Mr. Rahul Gandhi and Sandeep Dixit, the National Secretary of the Communist Party of India Mr. D. Raja, the General Secretary of All India Forward Bloc Mr Devarajan, National President of BJP Mr. Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha MP Mr. Hanan Mollah, and Cabinet Secretary Mr. Chandrasekhar. Minister of State for the PMO Mr. Prithviraj Chavan will meet the Bhopal delegation tomorrow, 18 April.
Contact:
Rashida Bee/Champa Devi Shukla. Cell: 09425688215
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Syed M. Irfan. Cell: 09329026319
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Satinath Sarangi/Rachna Dhingra. Cell: 9717516005
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
S3, Tulsi Towers, Patel Nagar, Sangam Talkies, Madhya Pradesh
Posted by tim at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2008
Bhopali child pens letter in blood to PM
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karamchari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Schoolchildren hold up their banner in Jantar Mantar today
NEW DELHI, 16 APRIL, 2008 – After 38 days of walking from Bhopal to New Delhi, and 18 days on dharna at Jantar Mantar to get the Prime Minister to meet the Bhopalis' long-standing demands, 11-year old Yasmin today penned a letter to the PM in blood. The blood was drawn from survivors of the 1984 disaster, and those like Yasmin, who are affected by groundwater contamination. This letter and letters written by more than 500 children from Delhi and Chennai schools are to be submitted to the Prime Minister's office by a delegation of children. The letters urge the PM to deliver on promises he made two years ago and do justice in Bhopal.
"Children of Bhopal have the dubious distinction of being victims of two of the world's worst disasters -- one caused by Union Carbide's toxic gases, and the other by the thousands of tons of toxic wastes abandoned by Carbide in Bhopal," said Yasmin. While more than 500,000 people were exposed to the poison gases, at least 25000 – many of whom are not gas victims – are being poisoned by the contaminated groundwater.
Yasmin explaining the contamination problem to Delhi schoolchildren today
Yasmin and other Bhopal children were joined by more than 100 Delhi school children in a rally from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street to highlight the effects of Union Carbide's poisons on successive generations of children born in water contamination affected areas or to gas-affected parents. Several studies, and expert opinions from doctors confirm that the poison gas from 1984 and the toxins in the groundwater can cross the placental barrier and affect the developing foetus.
In the years after the disaster, several scientists reported chromosomal aberrations among gas-exposed people. Such changes in genetic make-up could result in defects manifesting themselves in future generations. In 1991, the Indian Council for Medical Research abruptly terminated research on the health effects on children born to exposed parents after the disaster. This was despite the fact that the research's Prinicipal Investigator recommended continued monitoring on the basis of findings that confirmed substantial deficits in physical growth and mental development among children born to gas-affected persons.
A study published by Sambhavna Trust Clinic in the Journal of American Medical Association in 2003 found that male children born to gas-affected parents were shorter, lighter, thinner and had smaller heads compared to children of un-exposed parents.
Recognising the spate of birth defects, and physical and mental development disorders among the second generation of the gas exposed, the Supreme Court had, in 1991, ordered that at least 100,000 children born after the disaster should be brought under medical insurance cover. Till date, not one child has been covered. Meanwhile, no schemes exist to extend social support to families with children requiring special care. Between 1992 and 1997, fourteen children had received official assistance for heart surgery and 13 for diagnosis of congenital brain anomalies, under a program called SPARC (Special Assistance to At Risk Children). But this program was terminated in 1997 citing financial constraints.
A 2002 study by the Fact Finding Mission on Bhopal found trichloroethene and chloroform in the groundwater, and mercury and chloroform in the breast milk of nursing women. All these chemicals can cause birth defects, and have the potential to damage the brain and/or cause cancer. Indeed, out of 65 children examined in a medical camp in December 2006 by Dr. Matthew Varghese of St. Stephens Hospital, New Delhi, 31 children suffered from brain damage. Most were residents of contamination-affected areas, and were brought to the medical camp organized by Chingari Trust. Chingari is a charitable organization set up to provide medical assistance to children with birth defects born to exposed parents by Rashida Bee and Champa Devi with the money they received along with the Goldman Environmental prize in 2004.
A book of Chingari assisted children on display today
"The Government has categorically refused to extend social pension to families with children requiring special care," said Rashida Bee, who is also the president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, one of the co-organisers of the padayatra to Delhi, and the ongoing strike in Jantar Mantar. According to Bhopal survivors’ organisations, the Government has not allocated any money for care of children affected by the exposure of their parents. "The number of children requiring such care will only grow, given that more than 25,000 Bhopalis have been condemned to drinking toxic water," said Rashida Bee.
Contamination affected children demonstrate at the dharna site in Jantar Mantar
Bhopal survivors currently camped out at Jantar Mantar have said they will not return to Bhopal until the PM declares setting up of an empowered commission for provision of medical, social, economic and environmental rehabilitation to the people poisoned by Union Carbide and their children for the next 30 years.
Rashida Bee, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh
09425688215
Syed M Irfan
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
09329026319
Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
09826167369
Contact : S-3, Tulsi Towers, Patel Nagar, Behind Sangam Cinema, Bhopal 462 001
In Delhi, contact: Rachna Dhingra: 9717516005
Posted by tim at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2008
Massive Fire at Gujarat Facility Destined to Receive Bhopal Toxic Wastes
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information & Action
Watch NDTV's coverage of the fire
NEW DELHI, 8 APRIL, 2008 -- A massive fire consumed 120 tons of unknown toxic wastes on 3 April at BEIL’s toxic waste treatment, storage, disposal facility in Ankleshwar, Gujarat. The incident vindicates the stance of local residents, Bhopal survivors, and Dr. P.M. Bhargava – a member of the High Court appointed Technical Committee -- who had advised the Madhya Pradesh High Court against sending Union Carbide’s waste from Bhopal for incineration at this facility.
Speaking at a press conference with Bhopal survivors in dharna at Jantar Mantar, Rohit Prajapati of Gujarat-based Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti said: “The fire disaster in Ankleshwar was handled very poorly. Till date no information has been made available to the public regarding what was burnt in the fire, what is stored on site, and what to do in the event of a disaster.” According to Prajapati, this is both against the law and counter to the lessons learnt from the Bhopal disaster. Prajapati was part of a 4-person team that visited Ankleshwar to ascertain the situation after the fire disaster. The Environmental Protection Act and the Factories Act mandate disclosure of information relating to hazards posed by chemicals to workers and public. However, Gujarat Pollution Control Board refused to divulge this information even under Right to Information, Prajapati said.
The pollution was so intense that three villages were to be evacuated, according to news reports. However, no evacuation happened as the District Administration neither had an evacuation plan nor a disaster management plan. Such a plan is mandatory.
A Task Force set up by the Madhya Pradesh High Court to recommend action on toxic wastes lying in and around the Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal, concluded that 345 tons of chlorinated wastes should be sent to BEIL, Ankleshwar, for incineration. According to Dr. Bhargava, a prominent scientist and founder chairman of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, “The Task Force had omitted parts of the Technical Subcomittee report that strongly suggested that the waste be shipped back to Dow Chemical for disposal in the US.”
The High Court too disregarded a plea by Ziya Pathan, an Ankleshwar resident, stating that his protest came too late. However, evidence presented by Pathan contained excerpts from a study by a German consultant that found that BEIL’s facility was not equipped to deal with highly toxic wastes. The consultant’s report found that the Ankleshwar facility’s emissions of total organic carbon and nitrogen oxides may exceed German standards by a factor of 2, and that emissions of dust and acidic gases could exceed German standards by factors of 4 and 5. Further, contrary to state-of-the-art practice, the Ankleshwar facility disposed heavy-metal laden residual ash in the landfill. Such practices increase the likelihood of severe groundwater contamination.
“As victims of a major tragedy, we find the Government’s proposal to transport the deadly Bhopal waste to Ankleshwar – which itself is a toxic hotspot – offensive and simple minded, especially when Ankleshwar itself is begging for a clean-up,” said Hazra Bee, a gas victim. She was one of 50 Bhopalis that have walked 800km from Bhopal to New Delhi, and are camped out at Jantar Mantar awaiting a meeting with the Prime Minister. Gujarat Pollution Control Board’s Vision 2010/2015 document lists Ankleshwar as one of 24 toxic hotspots in the country.
On October 10, 2007, the Gujarat Government succumbed to popular pressure and withdrew the NOC given to the Government of India to incinerate Bhopal wastes at Ankleshwar. The court has refused to acknowledge the withdrawal, and has said that wastes will be transported to Ankleshwar as per original plan. Despite the challenge to its order withdrawing permission, the Gujarat Government has failed to contest the High Court’s position, leading environmentalists to doubt the Government's sincerity in withdrawing permission for incineration.
“The High Court has been misled. First, the 345 tons that is sought to be incinerated are not the priority wastes. The more than 8000 tons that is buried is the waste that is causing groundwater contamination and requires immediate attention. Second, the Court has been told that there are facilities in India that can adequately handle this waste,” said Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
RESOURCES
A chronology of the transportation of the waste in and around the UCIL factory in Bhopal (Word doc)
A press pack on the fire at BEIL, Ankleshwar (large zip file)
For more information, contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman. Cell: 9717516003 or 09444082401. www.bhopal.net
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
B5/136, FF, Safdarjung Encl., New Delhi 110 039
Rohit Prajapati. Cell: 09427933046
Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti
c/o 37 Patrakar Colony, Tandalja, Vadodara 390 020, Phone: 0265-2320399
Email: rt_manav@sancharnet.in
Posted by tim at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)