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
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