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February 27, 2007
Survivors present evidence of medical problems, efficacy of yoga and ayurveda, slam state healthcare system as incompetent, apathetic and corrupt
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal Ki Aawaaz
February 27, 2007
PRESS STATEMENT
At a Press Conference today a group of people suffering from different chronic ailments due to Union Carbide’s poisonous chemicals shared their experience of getting sustained relief from their symptoms through treatment by Yoga and Ayurveda at the Sambhavna Trust clinic. The conference was organised by four organisations who are on the eighth day of their dharna (sit in) demanding proper medical care, economic and social rehabilitation and protection from Union Carbide’s poisons from the Madhya Pradesh government.
Dr Jyoti Keswani, yoga therapist at the Sambhavna clinic spoke on the effectiveness of Yoga therapy in the treatment of gas exposure related chronic breathlessness, joint pains, body ache, menstrual disorders, panic attacks and other problems. She said that in the last 10 years, the Sambhavna clinic has provided free medical care to over 18, 000 people affected by Union Carbide’s toxic gases and by ground water contamination caused by Carbide’s chemical wastes.
According to Dr. Keswani an unusually large number of gas affected people receiving care at Sambhavna were found to be suffering from diabetes, hypertension, thyroid and menstrual disorders indicating damage to the endocrinal system due to the gas disaster of December 1984. Her records show that Yoga has been remarkably effective in the treatment of these chronic health problems. In addition Yoga was found to provide sustained relief in symptoms such as body ache and headache attributable to exposure to contaminated ground water.
Dr Keswani said that thousands of people taking treatment at Sambhavna had found sustained relief from exposure related problems such as chronic breathlessness, loss of appetite, stomach disorders, panic attacks, fainting spells, joint pain, body ache and other problems through Ayurveda care. She said that medical care through modern medicine, Ayurveda and Yoga at Sambhavna in the last 10 years has shown that it is possible to develop safe, simple, effective and inexpensive means to provide sustained relief from exposure related health problems.
The leaders of the survivors’ organisations pointed out that in a particular year, less than 5 % of the total amount spent on hospital and clinics meant for gas affected people was expended on care through Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy and Yoga. They said that there was ample evidence that the state government’s disproportionate emphasis on health care through modern medicine had failed to provide effective relief to the Bhopal victims. They pointed out that in many instances prolonged treatment by modern medicine was causing more harm than good and in the case of such medicines as steroids, pain killers, antibiotic and psychotropic drugs potentially compounding exposure related injuries.
The organisations are calling for a five fold increase on expenditure on treatment through alternate systems of health care and are determined to continue with their “Jeene ka Haq” (Right to Life) campaign till their demands are met. Demanding meaningful changes in the present system of health care of the gas victims, they said that it has remained ridden with apathy, incompetence and corruption and that only pharmaceutical companies and state government officials and ministers have benefited from it in the last 22 years.
Rashida Bi, 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, Rachna Dhingra
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 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2007
"Right to Live" dharna: parents of babies born malformed due to Carbide's poisons demand the children should receive free medical care
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal Ki Aaawaaz
February 25, 2007
PRESS STATEMENT
At a press conference in Bhopal today, parents of 14 children born with congenital abnormalities attributable to exposure to Union Carbide’s poisons demanded free medical care for their children and monthly pension of at least Rs. 1000 per month from the state government. 10 of these children had been successfully treated by the Chingari Trust set up by Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, leaders of survivors organisations sitting on dharna for the last five days demanding medical care, economic and social rehabilitation and protection from Union Carbide’s poisons from the state government.
Chromosomal aberrations have been found among the people exposed to Union Carbide’s toxic gases giving rise to apprehensions of birth defects among children of gas exposed parents. Several scientific studies by government and non-government agencies have confirmed the presence of several birth defect causing pesticides, chemicals and heavy metals in the ground water in and around the abandoned Union Carbide factory.
Studies by the MP Pollution Control Board have shown that pesticides such as endrin, dieldrin, carbaryl, methoxychlor and others that can cause birth defects are present in the ground water samples collected from the area. International environmental organization Greenpeace reported finding tetra-, penta- and hexa- chlorobenzene as well as lead and mercury in soil and ground water samples, all of which can cause birth defects.
The Chingari Trust was set up with a fund of Rs 56 lakhs that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi received with the Goldman Environment Prize awarded to them in 2004 for leading the campaign of the survivors of the Union Carbide disaster. Last year the Trust identified 100 children with different kinds of birth defects in the gas and contaminated ground water exposed affected communities. 65 of these children were seen by medical specialists from New Delhi and Bhopal at a health camp in December 2006.
The specialists found that an unusually large number of children suffered from cerebral palsy that causes total disability. The doctors also found children with cleft lip and missing palate and with disabilities related to vision, hearing and mental functions. According to them a large number of these children could significantly benefit from surgical treatment and counseling.
Rashida Bee and Champa Devi have so far organized treatment for 10 children with limb deformities, cleft lips and missing palates in New Delhi and Bhopal. Last month they apprised the Minister of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation about the findings of the health camp and have urged the state government to arrange for medical treatment of children born with malformations due to Union Carbide’s poisons.
The four organisations that are determined to continue with their dharna till the state government concedes to the demands of their “Right to Life” campaign have called for medical treatment of children with congenital malformations and monthly pensions to their families. They are also demanding monthly pensions for women who were widowed by the disaster, persons who are too sick to earn a livelihood, survivor families living below the poverty line and those above 60 years with no family to depend on.
Rashida Bi, 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, Rachna Dhingra
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 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2007
Survivors' torchlight "Right to Live" procession accuses Chief Minister of criminal neglect of victims and colluding with the US chemical companies
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
February 23, 2007
PRESS STATEMENT
More than 400 survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal marched with burning torches to the Chief Minister's residence today on the fourth day of their “Right to Life” campaign. The marchers condemned the Chief Minister’s continued indifference towards the suffering of the people poisoned by Union Carbide.
Leaders of the four organisations marching in the torch rally said that the apathy of the Chief Minister is evident from the fact that he has not responded to any of the petitions submitted to him since June 2006. The Chief Minister's personal secretary promised that he would respond by February 20 but there has been no word from his office so far.
According to the Bhopal campaigners, the Chief Minister’s indifference towards the people poisoned by Union Carbide is prolonging their suffering and causing untimely deaths. They said that the state government has failed in providing economic rehabilitation to the victims who have lost their livelihood as a result of gas exposure. They held the Chief Minister responsible for starvation among thousands of gas affected families.
The leaders of the organisations said that as the state government continues its criminal negligence of the poisoned people of Bhopal, it is at the same time colluding with the corporations responsible for the ongoing disaster. They said that the state government has recently sought Rs. 2 Crores from the central government to incinerate part of the hazardous waste abandoned inside the Union Carbide factory.
The campaigners pointed out that the disposal of hazardous waste was the legal responsibility of American multinational Dow Chemical Company, the current owner of Union Carbide. They said that the state government was trying to use public funds to help Dow escape its liabilities in Bhopal. They demanded that instead of incinerating the waste which would produce extremely poisonous gases, the state government should arrange for containment of the waste for shipping to USA or other OECD countries for safe disposal.
Rashida Bi, 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, Rachna Dhingra
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 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
Survivors condemn MP government for continuing inaction as Bhopal's health holocaust roars on
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information & Action
Bhopal Ki Aawaaz
February 22, 2007
PRESS STATEMENT
More than 100 women survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster produced bags from old newspapers as part of their activities on the third day of the dharna led by four local organisations. They distributed the paper bags among passers gather support for their ongoing “Right to Life” campaign and to discourage use of polythene bags. According to leaders of the organisations making of paper bags at the dharna site was an expression of the resolve of the Bhopal survivors to obtain gainful employment.
The organisations have yet to receive any reply to the charter of demands that they gave to the Chief Minister on February 13, 2007. Many of these demands are for implementation of decisions taken by the Coordination Committee on Bhopal that was set up by the Prime Minister last year for addressing issues of relief and rehabilitation of Bhopal victims. The Prime Minister’s decision came after a 800 kilometer march on foot from Bhopal to New Delhi in February last year followed by dharna and hunger strike by the organisations.
The organisations hold the Madhya Pradesh government responsible for the continued suffering of the survivors of the disaster. They said that the negligent attitude of the state government is obvious in the allocation of responsibilities to the officials in the Ministry of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation. The Minister, the Principal Secretary and the Director all have additional ministries and departments to handle and the posts of secretary and deputy secretary have remained vacant for the last several years.
According to the organisations, more than 100,000 survivors of the disaster continue today to suffer from illnesses caused by damage to their lungs, brain, reproductive and immune systems and other organs. The Centre for Rehabilitation Studies of the state government has confirmed the increased incidence among the 25,000 people exposed to ground water contamination of a range of respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin diseases. More than 50,000 thousand survivors have lost their livelihoods due to the disaster and there are thousands of starving families among the gas affected.
Tomorrow the protestors will take out a torchlight procession in the evening to draw the attention of the Chief Minister to the ongoing “Right to Life” campaign.
Rashida Bi, 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, Rachna Dhingra
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 09:45 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
Bhopal survivors demand "Right to Live", condemn heartless inaction of the BJP state government
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
February 19, 2007
PRESS STATEMENT
Addressing a press conference on the eve of the anniversary of the 2006 Padayatra from Bhopal to Delhi, leaders of four organisations of survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal condemned the State Government's inaction and announced their "Jeene kaa Haq" (Right to Live) campaign. The campaign will push for the resolution of long-pending demands, including health care, economic rehabilitation and social support for survivors and their families, and supply of safe water and removal of hazardous waste.
Survivors of the disaster and residents of water-contamination affected communities living near the abandoned Union Carbide factory will launch the campaign with a dharna (sit-in) at Roshanpura Square on 20 February, 2007 -- the 1st anniversary of march from Bhopal to Delhi. Last year 55 survivors marched 800 kilometers on foot from Bhopal to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister and press demands for relief and rehabilitation of Bhopal survivors and water-affected communities. After a 14-day dharna followed by a 7-day long hunger strike in New Delhi, the Prime Minister conceded to the demands of the Bhopal padayatris. A special Coordination Committee on Bhopal was set up with participation of senior officials from Central and State Governments, and representatives of survivors' organisations.
Displaying copies of the CCB meeting minutes, leaders of the four organisations said the state government was blocking the implementation of the decisions of the CCB towards providing long awaited relief and rehabilitation to the Bhopal victims. The organisations said that repeated attempts to meet the Chief Minister since June 2006 have been futile, and several petitions on behalf of people poisoned by Union Carbide have gone unanswered. The current BJP Government has surpassed all previous Governments in terms of incompetence, corruption and apathy shown towards the plight of Carbide victims.
Reports of the Supreme Court Committee for Medical Monitoring have exposed the miserable state of health care of the survivors. The reports highlight the lack of specialists and doctors, standardised treatment protocols, quality medicines, diagnostic equipment and system of monitoring health status in the hospitals meant for gas victims. Survivors organisations said that the report of the state government's Centre for Rehabilitation Studies clearly points out that people are falling ill due to ground water contamination. However, such people are denied free medical care at gas relief hospitals.
The five point demand charter of the survivors includes demands for economic rehabilitation and social support. At least 50,000 victims lost their jobs as a result of the disaster. Survivors' organisations are demanding that at least 10,000 survivors should be gainfully employed in the Special Industrial Area in the next three months. 152 work sheds built at a cost of Rs. 8 Crores specially for employment of gas victims have been lying unused for more than 20 years, while families of survivors are forced to starve due to loss of livelihood.
Condemning the state government's inhuman attitude towards the most vulnerable categories of victims, the organisations demanded a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 per month to gas affected families living below the poverty line, women widowed due to the disaster, gas victims over 60 years old without family support, families with children with toxic-induced congenital malformations and families where the bread earner has died or is too sick to work.
The leaders demanded that the Union Carbide factory and the toxic Solar Evaporation Ponds must be secured with compound walls and the hazardous wastes within its premises must be exported to an OECD country like United States for final disposal. They demanded that the state government must ensure availability of funds for relief and rehabilitation of people poisoned by Union Carbide at least for the next 30 years. Setting up of an office of the Coordination Committee and forming sub groups for supervision on official relief and rehabilitation initiatives also feature prominently in the list of demands of the "Jeene kaa Haq" campaign.
Rashida Bi, 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. 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 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2007
Survivors' groups call for strong action against Dow: demand official investigations into corrupt practices
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
February 16, 2007
PRESS STATEMENT
At a press conference today, leaders of four Bhopal survivors and support organisations called on the Government to lodge an FIR against The Dow Chemical Company (USA) and its Indian subsidiary Dow Agrosciences India (earlier DeNocil) for bribes paid by the company. They have also demanded separate enquiries by law enforcement authorities and the Economic Offences Wing of the Government of India into the matter.
Earlier this week, Dow Chemical paid a fine of $325,000 (Rs. 1 crore 43 lakhs) to US financial regulator Securities Exchange Commission for paying $200,000 (Rs. 88 lakhs) in bribes to several Indian Government officials. According to the SEC records, a senior official in the Central Insecticides Board received $39,700 (Rs. 16 lakhs) for registering Dow’s pesticides in India between 1996 and 2001. Other state officials received $87,400 (Rs. 38 lakhs) for facilitating distribution and sales of Dow’s pesticides.
Bhopal survivors have long demanded withdrawal of Indian registration for Dow’s flagship product – Dursban (chlorpyriphos) – a pesticide banned for domestic use in the United States. In 2000 US environmental officials forced its withdrawal found the chemical to be widely present in ground water and human body, and linked to brain damage. Yet Dow continues to produce and market Dursban in India for domestic use falsely claiming that it is safe for humans.
The survivors’ leaders said that there have been several instances in the past when Dow’s dishonest practices in India have been exposed. In 2005, Indian Oil Corporation cancelled a deal with Dow because the company falsely sold Union Carbide technology as its own. Last year, Dow Corning, a joint venture of Dow Chemical, obtained regulatory approval from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for setting up a factory near Pune despite making false submissions. Dow Corning managed to get a permission to operate their factory despite submitting a map of its factory in Elizabethtown in the United States instead of a local site map as required by Indian law.
“The bribes to senior officials are merely the tip of the iceberg. We find even the Prime Minister’s office turning a blind eye to the ongoing crimes of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical and offering special privileges for expansion of Dow Chemical’s business in this country.” said Rashida Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh. The leaders pointed out that under directions from the Prime Minister, the Planning Commission has set up a special task force to facilitate Dow’s investments in India. According to the leaders the key to the preferential treatment given to Dow in India can only be uncovered by an investigation probing irregularities at the highest levels of the Government.
Survivor organisations also criticized the Madhya Pradesh state government’s recent move in the Madhya Pradesh High Court to help Dow evade environmental liability by applying for Rs. 2 crores from the Government of India for disposal of hazardous chemical waste stored inside the Bhopal factory. “We demand an enquiry into the reasons why the Madhya Pradesh Government is eager to protect Dow from liability by passing on the costs of toxic waste disposal to the Central Government,” said Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
Rashida Bi, 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. 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 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2007
Dow Chemical caught bribing Indian government officials
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
February 16, 2007
Press Statement
At a press conference today, leaders of four Bhopal survivors and support organisations called on the Government to lodge an FIR against The Dow Chemical Company (USA) and its Indian subsidiary Dow Agrosciences India (earlier DeNocil) for bribes paid by the company. They have also demanded separate enquiries by law enforcement authorities and the Economic Offences Wing of the Government of India into the matter.
Earlier this week, Dow Chemical paid a fine of $325,000 (Rs. 1 crore 43 lakhs) to US financial regulator Securities Exchange Commission for paying $200,000 (Rs. 88 lakhs) in bribes to several Indian Government officials. According to the SEC records, a senior official in the Central Insecticides Board received $39,700 (Rs. 16 lakhs) for registering Dow's pesticides in India between 1996 and 2001. Other state officials received $87,400 (Rs. 38 lakhs) for facilitating distribution and sales of Dow's pesticides.
Bhopal survivors have long demanded withdrawal of Indian registration for Dow's flagship product – Dursban (chlorpyriphos) – a pesticide banned for domestic use in the United States. In 2000 US environmental officials forced its withdrawal found the chemical to be widely present in ground water and human body, and linked to brain damage. Yet Dow continues to produce and market Dursban in India for domestic use falsely claiming that it is safe for humans.
The survivors' leaders said that there have been several instances in the past when Dow's dishonest practices in India have been exposed. In 2005, Indian Oil Corporation cancelled a deal with Dow because the company falsely sold Union Carbide technology as its own. Last year, Dow Corning, a joint venture of Dow Chemical, obtained regulatory approval from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for setting up a factory near Pune despite making false submissions. Dow Corning managed to get a permission to operate their factory despite submitting a map of its factory in Elizabethtown in the United States instead of a local site map as required by Indian law.
"The bribes to senior officials are merely the tip of the iceberg. We find even the Prime Minister's office turning a blind eye to the ongoing crimes of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical and offering special privileges for expansion of Dow Chemical's business in this country." said Rashida Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh. The leaders pointed out that under directions from the Prime Minister, the Planning Commission has set up a special task force to facilitate Dow's investments in India. According to the leaders the key to the preferential treatment given to Dow in India can only be uncovered by an investigation probing irregularities at the highest levels of the Government.
Survivor organisations also criticized the Madhya Pradesh state government's recent move in the Madhya Pradesh High Court to help Dow evade environmental liability by applying for Rs. 2 crores from the Government of India for disposal of hazardous chemical waste stored inside the Bhopal factory. "We demand an enquiry into the reasons why the Madhya Pradesh Government is eager to protect Dow from liability by passing on the costs of toxic waste disposal to the Central Government," said Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
Rashida Bi, 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. 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 05:22 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2007
Ratan Tata, agent of American multinationals, offers to facilitate Union Carbide’s re-entry into India
BHOPAL SURVIVORS CALL FOR ACTION AGAINST TATA GROUP
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has written to the Indian Government offering to set up a fund to clean up toxic wastes and contamination in and around the Union Carbide’s abandoned pesticide factory in Bhopal, according to a January 17, 2007, article in the Indian Express. On the face of it, this may seem like an offer of good-will. But it is meant solely to let Union Carbide and its new owner Dow Chemical off the hook. The article says Tata made this offer “for "remediation" of the Bhopal gas tragedy site to pave the way for Dow Chemicals. . .to invest in India.” Ratan Tata heads the US-India CEO Forum, a high-powered club of Indian and American industry leaders that seeks to redesign Indian laws and policies to make them friendly to big business. Andrew Liveris, the CEO of Dow Chemical is also a member of the Forum.
The Tata family has a history of allying with imperial powers. In pre-independence India, the Tata family had helped East India Company smuggle opium to China. They served the British Army during their invasion of Ethiopia. Tatas also named their textile factory in Nagpur “Empress Mills” honouring Queen Victoria. In 1984, Tata family patriarch JRD Tata had criticized Indian Government for arresting Carbide’s chairman Warren Anderson. Decisions taken by Warren Anderson authorizing the installation of untested and inherently hazardous technology in a thickly populated neighbourhood in Bhopal contributed significantly to the scale of the disaster. Tata Consulting Engineers had executed an engineering contract for Union Carbide’s disastrous Bhopal factory.
If Ratan Tata was truly interested in the well-being of Bhopal survivors, he need not have waited 22 years to make this offer. Even stranger is for Ratan Tata to offer to clear Dow Chemical and Union Carbide’s liabilities, while numerous sites owned by Tata companies – such as in the chromite mines of Sukhinda (Orissa), Rallis pesticide factory in Patancheru (Andhrapradesh), Tata salt works in Mithapur (Gujarat), and coalfields near Bokaro (Jharkhand) -- suffer as serious or even worse pollution than the Bhopal site. Polluter Pays is an established principle of law. If polluters are allowed to go unpunished, there will be no incentive for industries to be careful.
YOU CAN HELP
We, the survivors of the Bhopal disaster, appeal to you to join us in demanding that Ratan Tata withdraws his proposal on Bhopal. You can do one of many things:
1. Organise a boycott of Tata salt and tea [or Tata products such as Tata Indicom mobiles]
2. Call Tata Sons at Bombay House. Tel: +91 22 66657924. Ask for Christabelle Noronha, Vice President (Media). Email: media@tata.com
3. Organise public demonstrations in front of Tata offices and factories.
4. Students/Youth: Email media@tata.com communicating your decision to not work for any Tata group companies unless Tata withdraws its offer on Bhopal.
Whatever you do, please communicate to us at: nity68@gmail.com
BACKGROUND
Union Carbide is known as the Butcher of Bhopal. In December 1984, Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal leaked a poisonous gas and killed more than 8000 people within days. Since then, the death toll has risen to more than 20,000. The disaster happened because the Carbide had installed an inherently dangerous technology, and dismantled safety systems to save costs.
Immediately after the disaster, the Central Bureau of Investigation pressed criminal charges against Union Carbide Corporation and its senior executives. However, no progress has been made on the criminal case against UCC because the company has refused to honour the summons of Indian courts. It was declared an absconder in 1992.
In its hurry to flee India and run back to the United States, UCC abandoned several thousand tons of toxic wastes in and around its factory site in Bhopal. Those poisons have leaked into the groundwater. Now, more than 25,000 people are forced to drink water laced with Carbide’s poisons. The most immediate need in Bhopal is for clean water for these communities. Simultaneously, the Indian Government needs to force Union Carbide, or its new owner Dow Chemical, to pay for clean-up of the toxic wastes and the damages caused by it to people’s health and properties.
THE OFFICIAL POSITION
The Government of India has written to a US Court indicating that the offending corporation would need to pay for clean-up. Also, the Union Ministry of Chemicals has filed an application in the Madhya Pradesh High Court asking Dow Chemical to pay Rs. 100 crore (Rs. 1 billion) toward clean-up. The Technical Sub-committee of a Task Force set up by the MP High Court to look into the Bhopal contamination has unanimously concluded that the priority option to deal with the hazardous wastes is to ask Dow Chemical to ship it to USA for final disposal.
AMERICAN THREATS - BHOPALI RESPONSE
The US Government has warned the Indian Government that any action against the American multinational will harm American investments in India. However, Bhopal survivors and their supporters have resolved that Union Carbide and Dow Chemical will not be allowed to do business in India until the criminal liabilities and issues relating to toxic waste and related health and property damage are resolved.
THE SILENT DISASTER
The Bhopal factory site is a Global Toxic Hotspot. People knew about Union Carbide’s pollution from and environmental contamination by Union Carbide several years before the disaster. Evidence at hand confirms that Union Carbide knew about the leaching of poisons into the groundwater as early as 1981. Carbide scientists knew about the severe toxicity of the groundwater in 1989. A 1999 study by Greenpeace reported presence of neurotoxic mercury 6 million (60 lakh) times higher than normal. Carbon tetrachloride, a suspected carcinogen, exceeded limits set by World Health Organisation by 1705 times. However, Union Carbide chose to remain silent and even deny contamination. As a result, numerous people, primarily children, are suffering. Numerous children are being born with serious deformities and health problems, such as cerebral palsy, cleft lip, missing palate, and missing digits.
TATA'S ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD
The Tata group of companies have a dismal environmental record. 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 Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes has passed strong comments against waste disposal by Rallis – a Tata company manufacturing pesticides in Patancheru, near Hyderabad. In Mithapur, Gujarat, Tata's factories have contaminated ground water and destroyed agriculture in several villages. In Jamshedpur, where the Tatas run a steel plant, thousands of tons of boiler ash containing toxic heavy metals are dumped in the middle of the city at Jugsalai. Tata's collieries at West Bokaro in Jharkhand have contributed to the irreparable damage caused to the Bokaro river. In the Gulf of Kutch, Tata Chemicals is accused running an effluent pipe line through a reserve forest and a sanctuary.
Given the widespread environmental pollution by the Tatas, it is small wonder that Mr Ratan Tata is trying to subvert the Polluter Pays principle in Bhopal which could well be a powerful precedent against corporate crimes against the environment.
For more information, contact: bhopalcampaign@gmail.com
Visit: www.bhopal.net or www.studentsforbhopal.org
House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal
Posted by bhola at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)