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November 29, 2007
Bhopalis Award for Women Fighting Corporate Crime
PRESS STATEMENT
29th November 2007, Bhopal/New Delhi -- The world’s first award for women fighting corporate crimes will be announced in Bhopal on 5 December, 2007, as part of the week-long activities surrounding the 23rd anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. Inspired by their own slogan – “We are Flames, not Flowers” – two Bhopali women survivors from the 1984 gas disaster instituted the Chingari (Embers) Award for Women Against Corporate Crime. The award, which includes a trophy, citation and Rs. 50,000 in cash, is one of three things that Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla decided to do when they set up the Chingari Trust with the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize received by them in 2004. Shukla and Bee received the award for sustaining the struggle for justice for the Bhopal survivors against the combined might of the Indian Government, Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical.
Chingari trustees, members of the awards jury and the award winners are all women.
The Chingari Award will annually recognize one woman who is working at great personal risk and hardship to expose and fight human rights excesses of corporations. “The Chingari Award is particularly relevant at this juncture where the Government has made its intentions of submitting to corporate-led globalization extremely clear. The coming years will see some of the world’s most powerful corporations pitted against some of the most marginalized people – adivasis, dalits and peasants – with the police playing hitman for the investors,” said Suroopa Mukherjee, chairperson of the Trust and Reader at Hindu College in New Delhi.
A six-person jury, led by Mahashweta Devi, screened 10 nominations from rural areas around the country, and short-listed four women. One of the four will receive the 1st Chingari Award at a ceremony at Rajendra Bhavan, Bhopal, on 5 December. The award will be given away by Shri Achyutanand Mishra, Vice Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Evam Sanchar Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal. Other jury members include Ajitha George (Jharkhand), S. Usha (Kerala), Sujata Gothoskar and Mira Sadgopal (Maharashtra) and Pamela Philipose (New Delhi).
“To fight corporate crime, one needs patience, courage, staying power and the ability to withstand mental and physical hardships – all inherently female qualities. We hope that the recognition and the solidarity that will come in the wake of the award will not only strengthen the award recipient’s campaign but also inspire more women to lead struggles against environmental and human rights violations of corporations,” said Chingari managing trustees Rashida Bee and Champa Devi.
The Awards panel clarified that the prize was “more inspirational than competitive.”
The struggle for justice in Bhopal is one of the longest-running fights against corporate crime and Government collusion. The December 3, 1984, gas leak from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal killed more than 8000 and hurt lakhs more. Survivors of the disaster are now joined by their children in a fight to force the Government to hold Dow Chemical – Union Carbide’s new owner – accountable for the lingering liabilities in Bhopal.
Contact:
Bhopal: Rashida Bee/Champa Devi Shukla: 0755-2747500 / 09425688215 (cell-Rashida)
New Delhi: Shalini Sharma: 09891442037
Chingari Trust
44 Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar
Berasia Road
462018 Madhya Pradesh
India
Posted by tim at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2007
Proof that Gujarat refuses to accept factory waste
*Press Statement*
*Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh*
*Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha*
*Bhopal Group for Information & Action*
November 11, 2007, Bhopal - The Gujarat government has categorically refused to allow disposal of toxic waste from Union Carbide, Bhopal at the incinerator facility in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, according to letters from Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and the Gujarat Department of Forests and Environment. The letters which were presented by three organizations working on Bhopal issues at a press conference today were obtained through Right to Information.
The organizations said that the Madhya Pradesh government continues to feign ignorance in this regard to cover up its failure in finding a facility within India that would accept Bhopal's hazardous waste for disposal.
The letters mention "opposition from various NGOs and representatives of public" and categorically state that the M P government must carry out "disposal of said waste elsewhere."
Safe disposal of the toxic wastes from Union Carbide's factory is not possible in India, and Gujarat's refusal to handle the Bhopal waste is proof of that, leaders of the organizations said. They reiterated
their demand that the Government should force Dow Chemical to clean-up and ship the toxic wastes to a facility in USA for safe disposal there, just as the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board had forced Unilever in 2003 to ship its mercury wastes from its thermometer factory in Kodaikanal to the US for treatment and disposal.
The organizations also presented copies of correspondence between M P Pollution Control Board and Union Carbide that show that in 1991 the MPPCB itself recommended export of toxic waste. Citing the imprisonment of former MPPCB, Chairman V K Jain for amassing wealth disproportionate to his income in 2001, the organizations alleged that the MPPCB was bribed by Union Carbide to change its opinion.
The organizations pointed out that only one transporter has offered to carry the waste from Union Carbide for disposal. The transporter, one Manik Chourasia from Chhatarpur has no experience of transporting industrial waste let alone hazardous waste such as that from Union Carbide.
Pointing out the massive exposure to toxic dust suffered by residents in the neighbourhood of the factory during the packaging of the toxic waste in June 2005, the leaders of the organizations expressed apprehension that people in Bhopal and those on the route of the trucks carrying waste will once again suffer health injuries.
The organizations said they have filed applications under the Right to Information Act before the MPPCB, Department of Bhopal Gas Tragedy and the Collector to ensure that regulatory requirements for packaging, labelling and transportation of hazardous wastes as provided under the Hazardous Wastes (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 are followed. They have also sought information on on-site and off-site emergency plans in case of an accident involving Union Carbide's toxic waste.
Rashida Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
tel. 94265 88215
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
tel. 93290 26319
Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
tel. 98261 67369
*Contact : House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal*
Posted by tim at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)