People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXIII
No.
49 December 06, 2009 |
Amit
Sengupta
(25 years
have passed since the worst industrial disaster in history, on 3
December, 1989
in
ON the
night of 2-3 December 1984, a lethal cloud of
gas (later found
to be largely composed of the extremely toxic gas called Methyl
IsoCyanate:
MIC) escaped from the pesticide
plant of
Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in
Unjust & Arbitrary
Settlement
The tale of this shocking mass killing
does not end here. Redress and compensation was sought from UCC through
legal
means, which it evaded and blocked for years until matters were taken
up in the
Supreme Court of India. Even as investigations to assess the true
extent of
damage to lives and environment were dragging on, the Supreme Court,
much to
the satisfaction of UCC, brokered a settlement between the government
of India
and UCC in 1989. Under the terms of the settlement, UCC promised to pay
470
million US Dollars (about Rs 705 crores at the then rate of exchange)
as
compensation, while the government of India agreed to withdraw the
criminal
cases instituted against the company and its officials for causing the
disaster. Compensation was to be paid for arbitrarily estimated 3000
fatalities
and over one lakh injured.
The amounts of compensation
fixed by the Supreme
Court for various categories (Rs 1-3 lakhs for deaths, Rs 0.5 - 2 lakhs
for
permanent disability, Rs 50,000 for grievious injuries) were a
pittance.
Compare this, for instance, to the Uphaar fire tragedy in Delhi where
59
persons were killed due to asphyxiation after a fire in a cinema hall
in
1997.The Delhi High Court awarded Rs 15 lakhs and Rs 18 lakhs each to
next of
kin of respectively minor and major victims, along with 9 per cent
interest
starting from the day of the tragedy.
The sum of 470 million dollars was very
close to the 450 million insurance that Carbide carried, meaning that
Carbide
had to pay only 20 million beyond what the insurance companies paid
out, making
it one of the cheapest damages settlement ever for any major chemical
accident. Evidence suggests that
the
hasty settlement was also designed to pre-empt the criminal prosecution
of
Union Carbide officials and the further progress of investigation by
the CBI
into the real causes of the corporate crime.
Continuing
Misery
Over 25 years have passed since this
arbitrary and unjust settlement was imposed on the victims. Thousands
of
victims still continue to suffer from serious ailments and disabilities
directly attributable to the gases; on an average about 6000 victims
continue
to visit medical facilities every day. A whole generation of people
debilitated
by the toxic gases struggled through these years bringing up children
who
suffered from its harmful effects, fighting declining physical
capacities to
earn their living, and awaiting justice. In the latter half of the
1990s,
persistent investigations revealed that UCIL had been poisoning the
surrounding
areas by freely dumping toxic waste produced in the routine operation
of the
pesticide plant since 1969. Ground water contamination and other
continuing
environmental damages are yet to be properly assessed.
Not only have
the victims of the Corporate crime been denied due material
compensation, they
have also been denied proper medical care, rehabilitation and other
forms of
support. No treatment guidelines were formulated and treatment
facilities
continue to be far too inadequate. The ICMR wound up its studies on the
long
term health effects of the poisonous gas barely ten years after the
disaster.
Successive
governments (at the state or central levels)
have exhibited
callous disregard to the conditions in
Predatory Drive
For Profits
Although twentyfive years have gone by,
the Bhopal Gas Disaster is still a live issue not only for the
thousands of
residents of Bhopal but also for all those concerned about these
issues. The
transfer of obsolete, faulty and hazardous technology and gross
violation of
safety standards by UCC and its subsequent attempts to evade
responsibility
clearly show the contempt in which such MNCs hold the people,
especially of
third world countries like India. In the current era of imperialist
globalisation, this predatory drive for profits at any cost by
international
capital needs to be highlighted. It is the same drive that makes poor
people
work for a pittance in countries round the world, so that super-profits
can be
expropriated by corporate behemoths. It is the same drive that
intervenes
economically, diplomatically and even militarily in country after
country to
expand and perpetuate harsh and unjust exploitation. And ultimately, it
is the
same drive that caused Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, unleashed Agent
Orange
on the Vietnamese people, and has caused unimaginable hardship and
misery for
the people of Iraq and elsewhere.
The compromises and vacillation of the
government
of India, the state government and various arms of the State machinery,
in
connection with the Bhopal disaster, reveals their disregard towards
the
well-being and lives of people, and connivance with international
capital in
all its manifestations and actions. This tendency has grown
considerably in the
past twentyfive years, and in the current ethos of FDI worship, it has
acquired
almost an institutional status.
The lessons of
Bhopal also brought forth the important
issues relating to location of industries, especially hazardous ones,
the need
for a strict mechanism for environmental impact assessment and
disclosure of
technological details, strengthening laws and regulations relating to
use of
hazardous material and liabilities arising thereof. Special attention
needs to
be paid towards evolving a regulatory framework for MNCs and their
activities
on Indian soil.
The people of Bhopal have fought for
two and a half decades for justice and managed to get only
paltry
concessions. However, several life and death issues still remain
unaddressed
even as they continue to struggle through legal and other avenues.
Their
struggle has been consistently supported by democratic forces all over
the
country (as also internationally). But this struggle of solidarity
needs to be
vastly strengthened in order to, both, ensure that justice is done for
Bhopal
as well as to raise the level of vigilance against ideologies and
economic
systems that caused Bhopal twentyfive years ago and continue to
flourish even
today.
Securing Justice
For
So, what can be done now for securing
justice to the people of Bhopal, and ensuring that such a disaster does
not
strike elsewhere? Some of the crucial demands are:
For
the People of Bhopal
�
Rehabilitation: Develop a comprehensive strategy for assuring
suitable employment to
families of victims, including training, credit for working capital
etc.
�
Medical care:
A broad framework of treatment for gas effects and toxic contamination
should
be evolved and prescribed, under a unified delivery system. All
research
findings including ICMR studies should be made public. ICMR should
forthwith
restart all medical research pertaining to effects of the toxic gases
on life
systems.
�
Clean up: Government
of India should take over the task of cleaning up the former UCIL plant
site in
a transparent manner, involving suitable experts and specialists.
�
Public Distribution System: Special ration cards should be issued for
victims and
all essential commodities should be made available at controlled prices
through
suitably located fair price shops in Bhopal.
�
Fast-track special court for criminal cases: A dedicated special court should be set up
for speedy
trial of the criminal cases in order that the guilty are brought to
justice
forthwith. The extradition of Anderson and other accused from the US
should be
vigorously pursued and diplomatic pressure exercised on the US through
bilateral and multilateral fora for forcing the US to comply to the
demand.
�
Right to Information: All previous and on-going
research/investigative
reports should be made public and a transparent system be established
for future.
�
Settlement & Compensation: The central government must reopen the Bhopal Settlement and undertake the
necessary legal measures towards that end. It should demand additional
compensation from UCC/Dow for disbursement among victims after
re-categorisation,
inclusion of second generation victims and fresh fixation of amounts.
To
protect the Rights of People in General
�
Location of hazardous industries should be subject to a principled policy,
applicable all over the country, with which local
zoning laws need to be in consonance. Such policy should prohibit
location of
categorised industries in inhabited areas, lay down mandatory measures
for
safety as also containment, and place the onus on the industry.
Monitoring
mechanism, through tripartite statutory bodies, measures for workers
safety,
compensation etc. should also be included in this. Well-defined penalty
provisions and the principle of "polluter pays" should be clearly and
legally established. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), with
complete
transparency and participation of local people in hearings, needs to be
made
mandatory in such cases.
�
All technology transfer cases from foreign
countries should be subject to stringent screening by expert
committees,
with workers representatives. Complete disclosure of technical details
including raw materials, processes, potential hazards, methods of
prevention
and containment should be mandatory.
�
Laws relating to industrial safety and
occupational
health should be strengthened
in the
light of Bhopal and general development of industrial technologies.
These
include labour laws as well as environmental statutes.