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January 19, 2007
Bhopal survivors sharp response to Tata's press statement: shopkeepers who have thrown out Tata products demand that Tata must reimburse them
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
January 18, 2007
Press Statement
Survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal along with people exposed to ground water contaminated by Carbide's chemical wastes today continued with their rally calling for boycott of salt and tea marketed by the Tata company. The boycott has been called by four survivors organisations in response to Chairman Tata group Ratan Tata's reported moves to help Union Carbide's current owner Dow Chemical to escape liability for the toxic contamination and consequent health damages caused by the recklessly abandoned factory in Bhopal. Mr Ratan Tata is reported to have written to the Indian government proposing the clean up of chemical wastes by a trust to be set up by him.
In response to the survivors' rally small shopkeepers along the way took packets of Tata tea and Tata salt from their shops and put it in to a large sack painted like the most sold five rupee sachets of Tata tea. A clay dog with its hind leg lifted was shown urinating on to the sack causing much laughter among the people on the way. The shopkeepers signed a letter addressed to Ratan Tata saying that he either takes back his proposal to the government or takes back his company's products from their shop. They demanded that Tata must pay them back for the packets they were returning. The organisers of the rally plan to take the returned Tata goods to a representative of the company.
Meanwhile reacting sharply to the press statement issued by the Tata group yesterday, the leaders of the survivors organizations said that the statement illustrates both Ratan Tata's ignorance of the situation in Bhopal and his attempts to protect American multinational Dow from legal liabilities. Tata group has expressed concern about the "likelihood of contamination of the soil and ground water in the area" whereas no less than 10 government and non–government scientific studies starting from 1990 have confirmed the presence of highly toxic and cancer and birth defect causing chemicals in the ground water up to a radius of more than 3 kilometers from the Union Carbide factory.
According to the survivors organisations, Tata's indifference towards the victims of ground water contamination is evident from the statement which says that "health issues may emerge" as a consequence of "possible contamination" of ground water. The organizations pointed out that health impact of the contamination have been documented from 2001 when breast milk of mothers in these communities were found to contain Trichlorobenzene (TCB), Hexachloro cyclohexane (HCH), Dichloromethane, Chloroform and heavy metals such as mercury and nickel. More than 100 children with cerebral palsy, missing digits, cleft lip, missing palate and other birth defects have been recently identified among the contamination exposed population by the Chingari Trust a local NGO. Investigations carried out by Sambhavna Trust another local NGO have shown alarming rise of anaemia, delayed menarche and symptoms related to liver and kidney damage. The Trust has been providing free medical care to the survivors of the disaster and people affected by contamination for last 10 years.
According to the survivors organisations Mr Tata should have at least consulted the report of the MP Government's medical research agency, Centre for Rehabilitation Studies that clearly states that "It is definite that the water and soil contamination has caused increase in morbidity pattern among the population staying near UCIL factory and surrounding area of Solar Evaporation Ponds."
The organisers said that the Tata group's claim that the proposal to carry out clean up in Bhopal is just another "public spirited initiative" is in sharp contrast to the absence of such initiative in the matter of environmental destruction and health damage caused by Tata's factories in Mithapur, Gujarat, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, Jamshedpur and Bokaro river in Jharkhand, Sukinda in Orissa and several other parts of the country. The survivors organisations will be organising exhibitions on environmental and health damages caused by Tata group of companies in the country. The survivors are energised with the offer of support from activist groups in Tamilnadu, Kerala and New Delhi who will shortly be organising Tata boycott rallies.
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
Satinath Sarangi,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
98261 67369
Contact : 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 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2007
Bhopal survivors demonstrate against Tata's attempt to help Dow evade its liabilities: renew call for boycott of Tata salt and tea
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal Ki Aawaaz
PRESS STATEMENT - JANUARY 10, 2007
More than 200 survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal today demonstrated before the local corporate office of Tata Indicom against Chairman Tata Group, Ratan Tata's offer to clear the path for Dow-Union Carbide's investments in India.
The demonstrators under the leadership of 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, accused Ratan Tata of causing damage to the people and environment of India by facilitating the expansion of American multinational Dow Chemical in this country.
The leaders emphasised that as 100 % owner of Union Carbide, Dow Chemical USA is liable for the environmental and health damages in Bhopal. They said that according to the “polluter pays principle” which is valid both in USA and India Dow/Union Carbide must pay for the clean up in Bhopal. They charged Ratan Tata with helping Dow Chemical escape the liabilities of the ongoing disaster in Bhopal.
The leaders of the organisations said that Ratan Tata should first clean up the environmental damage caused by Tata group of companies in Sukhinda, Orissa, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, Mithapur, Gujarat, Jamshedpur, and West Bokaro in Jharkhand and other places in the country before attempting to clean up Bhopal.
The demonstrators distributed pamphlets condemning the collusion between the Tata Group and Dow Chemical and urging the gas affected people to boycott Tata’s salt and tea.
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 : House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal
Please continue to visit www.bhopal.net for more information on the campaign for justice in Bhopal
Posted by bhola at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 04, 2007
Survivors reject Tata attempts to muddy water over liability for Bhopal clean up
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
January 3, 2007
Press Statement
Addressing a press conference today leaders of four organizations of survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal strongly condemned Chairman Tata Group Ratan Tata's offer to clear the path for Dow-Union Carbide's investments in India by leading an effort to pay for and clean up Union Carbide's toxic waste in Bhopal.
Displaying a poster of Ratan Tata with a garland of shoes around his neck they called the industrialist an anti-national element who was causing damage to the people and environment by facilitating the expansion of American multinational Dow Chemical in this country. The leaders appealed to Bhopal survivors to boycott Tata's salt as a mark of protest, and have launched a national boycott campaign.
The leaders emphasized that Dow Chemical took over the environmental liabilities of Bhopal when it became the 100 % owner of Union Carbide in 2001. They said that according to the "polluter pays principle" which is valid both in USA and India Dow/Union Carbide must pay for the clean up in Bhopal.
According to the leaders, the Tata family had helped the East India Company in smuggling opium to China, had functioned as the commissariat for the invasion of Ethiopia by the British army and had named its textile factory in Nagpur "Empress Mills" in honour of Queen Victoria. The Bhopal leaders see Ratan Tata following the footsteps of his ancestors in the Tata family and serving imperialist interests in his role as the Co-Chairman of the US India CEO Forum.
The survivors' leaders stated that the head of the Tata family, JRD Tata had condemned the arrest of Warren Anderson, Chairman of Union Carbide in 1984 and demanded that Ratan Tata apologize to the people of Bhopal for this treachery by the Tata family.
Pointing out the links between Tata and Union Carbide, the leaders stated that Keshub Mahindra who is accused as Chairman of the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide was also the Director of several Tata companies in 1984. David Good, former Director of the South Asian Bureau in the State Department of the US government and the official who denied Anderson's extradition to India is now Head of the Tata Corporate office in USA.
The leaders described the environmental destruction wrought by Tatas in different parts of the country. They pointed out that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had singled out Tata's Chromite mines in Sukhinda, Orissa for causing widespread pollution and health damage. Similarly the Supreme Court appointed Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes has passed strong comments against waste disposal by Rallis – a Tata company in Patancheru near Hyderabad.
In Mithapur Gujarat, Tata's factories have contaminated ground water and destroyed agriculture in villages such as Arambada, Bheemrana, Lalapur, Surajkaradi and Padli. In Jamshedpur, where Tata's run a steel plant, thousands of tonnes of boiler ash containing lethal heavy metals are dumped in the middle of the city at Jugsalai. Tata's collieries at West Bokaro in Jharkhand are responsible for the irreparable damage caused to the Bokaro river.
In the Gulf of Kutch, Tata Chemicals is currently facing two cases in the Supreme Court of India for open drainage and pipe line through a reserve forest and a sanctuary. The leaders asked Ratan Tata to first clean his own backyard before attempting to clean up Bhopal.
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 : 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 12:16 PM | Comments (0)