‘I Wish We’d Died that Night’

December 22, 2009

By Sanjay Kumar

In February 1989, the Supreme Court of India approved a settlement for the victims of Bhopal under which Union Carbide agreed to pay about $470 million in compensation to victims. In exchange, the government agreed to drop all criminal cases against the company.

Two instalments of compensation of up to 25,000 Rupees each have so far been given to those affected–one payment in 1994 and the other in 2004.

But the settlement, designed to turn the page on the disaster, was criticized by many as a sell-out, and the failure to hold anyone accountable prompted nationwide protests that pressured the court to reopen the criminal cases in 1991.

Eighteen years on though, and Chauhan says little progress has been made on establishing what exactly happened, and who is responsible.

‘It really pains me that even after 25 years no one can officially say how this tragedy took place,’ he says. ‘Unless we know why this happened, how can we stop something like it happening again?’

I take a walk with Chauhan to the plant, which I received special permission to visit. The frame of the main building is still there, but looks rusty and dilapidated. The tank from which the methyl isocyanate leaked stands isolated in a corner of the main plant, while the door of the main control room is broken and some of the electrical instruments are missing, probably stolen.

Chauhan complains that no attempt has been made by the state government or Dow Chemicals, which took over Union Carbide, to detoxify the plant. He says that as a result, locals are still being exposed to toxins, a view supported by recent findings by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment that suggest toxins from the plant are contaminating the soil and underground water.

CSE pollution monitoring labs have tested water and soil samples from in and around the Union Carbide factory and found high concentrations of pesticides and heavy metals inside the factory premises as well as the groundwater outside. All 11 groundwater samples collected by CSE found large quantities of mercury, chlorinated benzene compounds and organic chlorine.

But Dow is unwilling to take action on the grounds that all liabilities regarding the disaster were settled when Union Carbide concluded the compensation settlement in 1989.

‘The government is protecting Dow,’ Sarangi says. ‘The first thing the government did after the disaster was to dump dead bodies in the jungle and rivers so that the liabilities of the Union Carbide could be reduced. The present government is playing the same game. They’re trying to say that there is no poison in the ground water.’

In Prem Nagar, about two kilometres from the Union Carbide site, women campaigning under the banner ‘Paani Pidit Mahila Sanghatan’ ( Organization of the Women Affected by Water Borne Disease) hold weekly meetings to give voice to demands for safe water and the removal of toxic waste.

There are more than 25,000 people who are suffering the after effects of the gas leak,’ says Hazira Bi who has been at the forefront of the campaign since 2001. ‘There was a scientific study of mothers’ breast milk and they found chemicals in it.There can’t be anything more dangerous than this.’

Three days spent here talking with victims of the tragedy was a sobering experience. It seems likely the Bhopal gas leak will be claiming victims for many years to come.