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December 14, 2006
Survivors carry out a citzens' raid on government hospitals and find sub-standard and expired drugs
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
December 14, 2006
PRESS RELEASE (Please see here for press coverage)
Addressing a press conference today representatives of four organisations working among the victims of the Union Carbide gas disaster and ground water contamination in Bhopal condemned the state government’s criminal neglect towards the medical care of the victims. Yesterday the organisations carried out a citizens’ raid on two medical stores of the gas relief department and found a large number of expired and substandard drugs. The activist leaders charged the MP government with causing deliberate harm to the people victimised by Union Carbide.
Of the 83 samples of medicines collected from the store, 30 were found to have crossed their expiry date. Many of these expired medicines were antibiotics such as Norfloxacin, Ampicillin and Tetracyclin and steroids such as Prednisolone that could cause serious damage to people’s health. More than half of the samples collected were of medicines manufactured in Indore which is notorious as the capital of spurious drug manufacturing in India.
According to the leaders three Indore firms: Cyano pharmaceuticals, Quest laboratories Private Ltd and Cipco Pharmaceuticals that are among the largest suppliers of drugs to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department have been found to be producing sub-standard drugs by the Drug Controller of Rajasthan this year. In fact two truck loads of medicines from Cyano and Cipco were being unloaded at the office of the Chief Medical Officer while the citizens’ raid took place.
The leaders said that they have been campaigning against the poor quality of medicines at hospitals meant for gas victims for many years but because of the rampant corruption in the state government the issue remains unresolved. They charged that the Minister of Gas Relief and senior officials of the department are paid heavy commissions by spurious drug manufacturers. They pointed out that the issue of poor quality medicines was placed before the Supreme court by the Monitoring Committee in October 2005, and that the Committee had recommended that random samples of medicines should be taken and sent for testing at reputed labs. According to the activist leaders the state government has not so far sent any medicines samples for quality testing.
On October 5, 2006 the representatives of the four survivors’ organisations presented the problems of poor quality medicines at the meeting of the Coordination Committee on Bhopal (CCB) that has been set up following directions from the Prime Minister. At the meeting of the CCB the representatives presented a list of 22 medicines from the medical store of Khan Shakir Ali Khan hospital out of which 16 were made in Indore. A Secretary of the MP government, the Director of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation and the Chief Medical Officer (Gas Relief) who were present at the meeting agreed to take action on the matter.
The leaders of the four organisations stated that they will go on an indefinite fast to pressure the state government on issues of medical care, employment, social rehabilitation and environmental remediation. According to the leaders the fast will be for a new beginning in relief and rehabilitation of Union Carbide’s victims in the New Year.
Rashida Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
93031 32959
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
93290 26319
Shahid Noor
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
98261 82226
Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
98261 67369
Contact : ICJB Office, House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal
Please visit www.bhopal.net for more information on the campaign for justice in Bhopal
Posted by bhola at 05:29 AM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2006
Survivors' organisations announce indefinite fast in Bhopal beginning January 3, 2007
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
December 03, 2006
PRESS STATEMENT
In a strongly-attended rally on the occasion of the 22nd Anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal four organisations jointly leading the survivors' struggle condemned the role of the current Central and State governments in aiding the killers of Bhopal and prolonging the torture of the victims.
At the end of the rally at the Union Carbide factory, an effigy of a four limbed demon symbolizing the Dow Chemical Company with Anderson hiding behind it was set on fire by the protestors. The effigy held a chemical conical flask and a bag of money sitting atop bent figures symbolizing the Indian and state governments. In a meeting held near the memorial to the disaster, participants of the 800 kilometer long Bhopal-to-New Delhi march this year, were felicitated.
The leaders of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal ki Aawaaz and Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that the Indian government is making special efforts to help Union Carbide's current owner American multinational The Dow Chemical Company to expand its toxic empire in India. They said these are similar to the special privileges earlier given to Union Carbide Corporation.
According to the organisations, a special task force in the Planning Commission is facilitating this company which is responsible for death and disease by Napalm, Agent Orange, Dursban and Dioxin all over the world to establish its factories in Haldia, West Bengal and Vishakhapattanam, Andhra Pradesh. Dursban, a pesticide banned in the USA since 2000 is being produced and sold by Dow Chemical in this country with the active collaboration of the Indian government.
The leaders said that they have presented evidence in the District Court in Bhopal to establish that Union Carbide Corporation continues to sell its products and technologies in India while absconding from justice in the criminal case on the disaster where the company is charged with culpable homicide, grievous assault and other offences.
The organisations have sought the confiscation of the proceeds of sale of Union Carbide's technology to Reliance Industries in Jamnagar that runs in to crores of rupees. The organisations demanded penal action by the Indian government against Dow Chemical and its Indian subsidiaries for sheltering fugitive Union Carbide.
The organisations held the state government of Madhya Pradesh responsible for prolonging the torture of the victims of Union Carbide's poisons. According to them the state government has demonstrated only apathy, incompetence and corruption in providing relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
They said that the state government has failed to provide proper medical care, gainful employment, pensions and a healthy living environment to the Bhopal victims even after 22 years. They said it is in contempt of the Supreme Court of India for not providing safe drinking water following the Court's order in May 2004.
The organisations will start on an indefinite fast from January 3, 2007 unless the state government accepts its demands for improving the condition of the people poisoned by Union Carbide.
The organisations acclaimed the recent lodging of a parliamentary motion in the Scottish Parliament calling on the Dow Chemical Company to ensure that its subsidiary Union Carbide submits to criminal justice in India and that Dow assumes responsibility for the long term medical, social and impact of the disaster. Survivors' organisations have thanked Ms. Rosemary Byrne, Co Convenor of the Solidarity party of Scotland who tabled the motion on December 1 this year.
Rashida Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
93031 32959
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
93290 26319
Shahid Noor
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
98261 82226
Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
98261 67369
Contact : ICJB Office, House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal
Please visit www.bhopal.net for more information on the campaign for justice in Bhopal
Posted by bhola at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2006
In a massive display of solidarity, students across the USA protest against Dow and mark the 22nd anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
December 02, 2006
PRESS STATEMENT
In a statement released by four survivors organisations: Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for Information and Action and Bhopal ki Aawaaz, representatives of the people poisoned by American multinational Union Carbide welcomed the support of students all over USA who are taking action on the 22nd Anniversary of the world’s worst industrial massacre.
At 14 cities and towns all over USA, members of Students for Bhopal will be taking part in a creative and effective array of protest actions in solidarity with the survivors of Bhopal.
At Austin, Texas, protest events include a die-in in front of the Capitol Building on December 2nd during the day and a candlelight vigil in the evening.
In Bloomington, Indiana, student members will re-enact the Bhopal gas tragedy funeral in a public place.
In Manhattan, New York there will be a short funeral procession with coffins to symbolise and mourn those killed from the 1984 Bhopal Gas Disaster. The procession will end in front of the Indian Consulate where a demonstration will take place demanding action by the Indian government for improving the situation in Bhopal.
Activists from Ann Arbor, Michigan close to Dow Chemical’s headquarters in Midland will visit Board members of Dow in their homes and give them prison suits. They will also hold a march to Dow’s offices within the University campus.
Students from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut will build a memorial, send Dow management the resumes of chemistry students who would not consider working for them until they clean up their act and send Dow a letter from chemistry professors urging them to fulfill their ethical duties in Bhopal.
Students at Princeton, New Jersey and in Seattle, Washington will hold candle light vigils and supporters of Bhopal survivors in San Diego, California will do a reenactment of the disaster in Bhopal.
In Cincinnati, Ohio students have organised a photo exhibition from November 27 and will be performing a “die in” and screening Bhopal Express movie on the anniversary of the disaster.
In Atlanta, Georgia student members along with Amnesty International will be organising a cultural event including music, poetry and film screenings on the disaster in Bhopal and its perpetrators.
Student members in Chicago, Illinois and Baltimore, Maryland will visit individual Dow Board Members in the area at their residences to present them with prison suits.
In Boston, Massachusetts today students will march through the centre of the city to the offices of State St. Bank, a major shareholder in Dow Chemical.
On December 3rd there will be a public screening of the BBC film One Night in Bhopal at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Students of Bard College at Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, will hold a candlelight vigil.
In May this year Harold Shapiro a Professor of Ethics at Princeton University resigned from Dow Chemical’s Board of Directors after members of Students for Bhopal did a fax-campaign demanding his resignation. Shapiro who had joined the Board in 1985 was the longest serving Dow board member.
Leaders of the four organisations: Rashida Bee, Syed M Irfan, Shahid Noor and Rachna Dhingra will be leading a mashaal rally in front of the Union Carbide factory this evening at 8 PM.
Rashida Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
93031 32959
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
93290 26319
Shahid Noor
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
98261 82226
Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
98261 67369
Contact : ICJB Office, House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal
Please visit www.studentsforbhopal.org for more information on the solidarity campaign in USA
Posted by bhola at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2006
Sambhava exhibition inaugurated by doctor who performed Bhopal autopsies after the 1984 disaster
SAMBHAVNA TRUST CLINIC, BHOPAL, NOVEMBER 29, 2006
The Sambhavna Trust Clinic that provides free medical care to the people poisoned by Union Carbide in Bhopal will be holding a 4-day exhibition at the Swaraj Bhavan on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the worst industrial disaster in the world.
The exhibition will be inaugurated by Dr D K Satpathy, Director, Medico Legal Institute at 5 PM tomorrow and will continue till December 3rd the day of the anniversary. Specially aimed at children and those born after the disaster the exhibition presents photographs, documents and other artifacts in simple language. An on the spot painting competition will be held for school students in three categories on all days.
Dr Satpathy who carried out the largest number of autopsies following the disaster on December 3, 1984 will be speaking on the contributions of forensic science in apprehending those responsible for the disaster. Journalist Mr Rajkumar Keshwani who had forewarned about and campaigned against the hazards of the Union Carbide factory will be speaking at the exhibition venue on December 2. Former operator of MIC plant in the factory and author of a book on the technical causes of the disaster Mr T R Chouhan will answer questions on the evening of December 1.
The Sambhavna Trust Clinic completed 10 years of its work this year. Nearly 18000 (17, 980) people are registered for long term care at the clinic through Allopathic, Ayurveda, Panchakarma and Yoga systems of healing. This year till November 6608 people poisoned by Union Carbide [4524 female, 2084 male] visited the clinic.
The members of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic said that this year they have started several new works in the face of adversity and loss due to the floods in the city in mid August. Facilities for eye care, large scale production of herbal medicines, microbiological tests in the pathology laboratory have been added to the clinic this year despite heavy financial losses due to damage to the walls and the herbal garden in the clinic. In addition several medicinal plant gardens were created in the affected communities.
The members stated that proper medical care that includes healing through Ayurvedic, Unani and Yoga systems of medicine, Clinics in every affected community, Gainful employment, Pensions, Safe drinking water, Clean up of contaminated soil and ground water, Medical research, Health education and Health surveillance are critically needed for the improvement of health of the people poisoned by Union Carbide.
Satinath Sarangi
Amita Gupta
Masarrat Jehan
Ritesh Kumar Pal
UPDATE DECEMBER 1, 2006
Sambhavna Trust Exhbition draws the crowds
Sambhavna Trust Clinic
Bafna Colony, Berasia Road, Bhopal
Tel : 2730914 / 2743157,
Email : sambavna@sancharnet.in, Web : www.bhopal.org
Date : December 1, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students from DAV School, Seven Hills School, Elite Higher Secondary School and Oriya Basti non-formal school today visited the exhibition organized on the 22nd Anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal by Sambhavna Trust was visited by school children from.
Mr T R Chouhan, former plant operator in the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal made a power point presentation on the technical and managerial aspects of the disaster and the contamination of soil and ground water in and around the now abandoned factory. Mr Chouhan is also the author of the popular book “Bhopal: The inside story” on the scientific causes of the disaster.
Mr Chouhan held the American senior management of the multinational he once worked for, guilty of deliberate neglect. He pointed out the design differences between the corporation’s MIC plant in West Virginia and the Bhopal MIC plant and said that unsafe conditions were created in Bhopal due to the top management’s policies that led to reduction in number and training period of staff.
He said that one of the big reasons for the poor operational safety and maintenance of the plant in the months preceding the disaster was that the top management had decided to dismantle the plant and sell it off to buyers in Indonesia or Brazil.
Mr Chouhan informed the listeners that the formulation of Sevin carbaryl, the product of the Union Carbide Bhopal’s factory, is continuing in India including in Bhopal.
He said that he has informed various government agencies about the poisoning of the ground water and soil due to the dumping of thousands of tons of toxic waste in and around the factory but no effective steps have been taken so far.
On 2nd December, members of Sambhavna Trust Clinic will hold a candle light vigil and a slideshow at Top–n-town, New Market at 6:00 pm
Satinath Sarangi
Managing Trustee
Posted by bhola at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
Dow Chemical investors' message to management: PR campaign cannot gloss over suffering of 100,000 people in Bhopal with no acknowledgment of corporate responsibility
December 1, 2006: Press Release from Amnesty International USA
NEW YORK, December 1, 2006 – In the face of a new public relations campaign by Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) claiming the company is addressing global public health and water problems, Dow shareholders representing more than $278 million announced today that they have filed a resolution with the company requesting that it address outstanding issues resulting from the Union Carbide (UC) chemical facility explosion in Bhopal, India, on December 3, 1984. UC became a fully owned subsidiary of Dow in 2001. Pollution continues to contaminate drinking water, and combined with long term effects of the disaster, has led to serious health problems for more than 100,000 people. Filed by the New York City Pension Funds (NYCERS), the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF), and Amnesty International USA, the resolution requests that Dow provide its shareholders with a description of any new steps taken by management to address social and environmental concerns of survivors of the UC disaster. Shareholders filing the resolution are not aware of any efforts by the company to address the issues in Bhopal and filed the resolution to assess whether the promises of the new PR program are being fulfilled in Bhopal.
In its Global Public Report, Dow reports $5.1 billion in sales from the Asia Pacific region. New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., said, “We take our fiduciary responsibilities seriously, and often that requires us to look beyond the information that a company provides us. Dow has claimed for years that outstanding issues in Bhopal are not material to the company’s success, but the facts tell a different story. It is in the long-term interest of shareholders for Dow to address potential liabilities in Bhopal, rather than allow them to impact our company’s reputation and ability to expand into new markets.”
The Dow Chemical resolution on Bhopal was filed by Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of The New York City Employees Retirement System, the New York City Teachers Retirement System, the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, the New York City Police Pension Fund, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System, with total assets of $96 billion. The New York State Common Retirement Fund’s total assets are $146 billion.
Shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on the Bhopal resolution at the Dow’s Annual Meeting in May 2007.
Earlier this year, Dow committed more than $30 million to a global public relations campaign – coined “The Human Element” – asserting the company’s engagement and accountability for public health and clean water around the world. Yet in Bhopal, arguably Dow’s worst legacy issue, the company still refuses to release the makeup of chemical compounds that poisoned people 22 years ago and has not addressed water contamination associated with the factory site.
According to Dow’s own statements, the ad campaign will expand beyond paid media, and will include outreach to policy leaders, NGOs, and Dow communities. This included a recent presentation to leaders at the United Nations, where CEO Andrew Liveris pledged to create clean water supplies around the world, saying, “… more than a billion people are in peril every day because they do not have enough water or the water they have is unhealthy. Lack of clean water is the single largest cause of disease in the world and more than 4,500 children die each day because of it.”
But the company’s outreach has not included Amnesty International – the world’s largest human rights organization – despite repeated attempts by the organization to engage the company since the release of the 2004 report, “Clouds of Injustice: Bhopal Disaster 20 years on.” The Amnesty International report explicitly describes the serious human rights abuses continuing to this day in Bhopal and the responsibilities of Dow to address them. The communities in Bhopal have not heard from Dow either – not since a meeting several years ago where according to survivors present, they were told simply, “We can’t help you.”
“That Dow has been denying responsibility for Bhopal for more than two decades is despicable. But the hypocrisy of the company’s new ’Human Element’ ad campaign represents a new low,” said Amy O’Meara of the Business and Human Rights Program of Amnesty International USA. “Dow/UC should use the millions they are spending on public relations to address the human rights problems around the world that the company is responsible for. A priority should be to clean up the water that their own subsidiary polluted.”
In addition to the contamination that remains in Bhopal, numerous legal issues from the Bhopal disaster are unresolved. Due to its refusal to appear in a criminal case, Union Carbide has the status of a fugitive from justice in India. As a fully owned subsidiary, these liabilities now fall to Dow. According to shareholders backing the resolution, the company needs to match the sentiment of the “Human Element” campaign with real action in Bhopal, or the potential liability it faces is likely to increase.
For more information, please see: www.amnestyusa.org/business.
Posted by bhola at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)