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The ghost of Bhopal
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Wednesday, 23 June, 2010, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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P N V NAIR
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 Almost 26 years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, we have not heard the truth as yet. As eminent journalist B G Verghese wrote, “Confusion, incompetence, cover-up and procedural delays all played their part in dealing with the greatest industrial disaster the world has ever seen. We have got so used to the stench that we live with it not realising how foul it smells.” The trivial Bhopal verdict is a grim reminder of this truth. As he said Bhopal was no accident. If at all, with prior warnings, it was an accident waiting to happen. And to add insult to the thousands who were killed and half a million who were maimed to suffer life-long, a judicial magistrate in Bhopal has recently pronounced a maximum sentence of two years in jail for 7 Indian employees of the Union Carbide India Limited’s pesticide plant, including the former chairman and the non-executive director of the UCIL. Another employee was also convicted but he had died before the judgement was passed.
The then UCC chairman, Warren Anderson, who rushed to India on hearing the tragedy, was however arrested, bailed out and officially assisted to flee the country. Anderson, we are told, was given a boon of “safe passage” and diplomatic niceties demand that we respect the commitment. But what we fail to understand is how the rest of the American executives who were working at the ill-fated plant at that time had escaped arrest and only the Indian executives were found guilty and convicted.
 There is a hue and cry against the judgement that seems to be too mild. In 1996, the Supreme Court had diluted the case and revised the offence from Section 304-II of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) with a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail to Section 304 A (causing death by rash and negligent act – accident by negligence) with a maximum punishment of two years in jail. “Hang the Chief Justice” is the cry now, without realising that sentiments, sympathies and emotions will not stand in a court of law. We should not mix emotions with law. At the same time, it is amazing that the state government, the Central government, the Supreme Court, the CBI and all other investigating agencies have played a shameful role and betrayed the people of Bhopal. And after 26 years of indecision, inaction and total negligence, a Group of Ministers (GoM), newly set up to deal with the case, wants extradition of Anderson, who is now 90 years old and has gone deaf and cynic. Does it serve any purpose to get him extradited from the US and restart the trial, as announced by Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily? The honourable minister will be living in a fool’s paradise if he thinks that Barack Obama will oblige him and hand over Anderson.
Who gave Anderson a safe passage? There is a blame game going on with the opposition parties trying to drag in the name of Rajiv Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister then, and the Congress party vehemently denying the charge. Bofors, IPKF and now Bhopal, the poor man will be turning in his samadhi! Rajiv was just one month in office when the Bhopal tragedy struck and chances are that some senior leaders, like Home Minister P V Narasimha Rao, as suggested by the then foreign secretary Rasgotra, must have taken an independent decision on granting safe passage to Anderson. But the responsibility is surely his. However, it is unfair to point accusing fingers at the late leaders when they cannot defend the charges. The issue was also immaterial because Anderson would not have visited Bhopal if safe passage was not extended to him. It was a sensible arrangement as there was no other option. We could not cut off all ties with UCC if we wanted to get any compensation.
The country still does not know the exact number of people who were killed. This writer, who was Editor of Mumbai-based The Daily and was closely following the tragedy at that time, knows for sure that the final toll officially announced was 3,000 plus. Wikipedia, in a report confirms this figure. It says, “ Around midnight on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, there was a leak of methyl isocynate (MIC) gas and other toxins from the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) plant at Bhopal. The immediate official toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.” Now the latest report is stunning that says nearly 15,000- 20,000 people were killed and must be compensated. The question is where the money has gone. Did the money reach the victims’ families?
In July 1989, the Supreme Court had asked UCC to pay a compensation of $470 million. One of the conditions was quashing of all criminal cases. At the time of settlement, it was estimated that there were 3,000 deaths and 30, 000 injured. The claims now stand at five times the 1989 estimate. The welfare commissioner had claimed that over Rs 1,400 crore had already been disbursed among the victims and their kin, but a large number of sufferers did not receive adequate compensation. This is because of the inflated number of claimants. However, the trust that handles the relief measures has now a balance of $ 500 million (Rs 2,355 crore), including interest.
Instead of finding some scapegoats or fixing responsibility on someone for all the lapses, we must concentrate on relief and rehabilitation of the affected people. They need succour and waited 26 years for the authorities to act. The GoM appointed by the Prime Minister has announced a package of Rs 1,500 crore towards hike in compensation for the victims – families of the deceased would be provided Rs10 lakh instead of the Rs Rs 1-3 lakh provided earlier. Those with permanent disability will receive Rs 5 lakh as against the Rs 50,000-Rs 2 lakh they got earlier, while those with lesser injuries will get Rs 1 lakh each. Patients of cancer and renal failure will get Rs 2 lakh. This is a fair deal when compared to the Indian law that offers just Rs 25,000 as compensation for the victims of similar industrial disasters. The question, however, is why they had to wait for so many years when the money was there.
While a sum of Rs 300 crore has been set apart for the clean-up job, Rs 227 crore has been earmarked for upgradation of seven hospitals, including the Bhopal Memorial Trust Hospital which was set up in the aftermath of the tragedy. Even 25 years after the gas leak, 390 tonnes of toxic chemicals abandoned at the UCIL plant continue to leak and pollute the groundwater in the region and affecting thousands of residents of the town who consume it. There is also some doubt as to whether the chemicals still stored at the site pose any continuing health hazard. The delay for the clean-up is a criminal negligence on the part of the state government. After all, the poisonous gas affects the health of its people. By the way, what were the environmentalists doing all these years. Sunita Narain, environment and social activist, thunders that American Dow Chemicals that bought UCIL in 2001 must be made to pay for the clean-up. A case is pending before the Jabalpur bench of the MP High Court against the company. Can we wait for the judgement?
While closing the Bhopal chapter, maybe in the near future, the government and the political parties should learn enough lessons and enact perfect laws to ensure that there are no more Bhopal-like tragedies.
Tailpiece: Overheard a conversation. Right or wrong, Rajiv Gandhi’s government had given safe passage to Anderson. What would have happened if it were Dr Manmohan Singh? He wou
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