31
2008
It happened in the wee hours of the morning of Dec 3rd 1984. As people lay asleep in their homes, in the Indian city of Bhopal, 40 tons of a deadly, toxic gas called methyl isocyanate (MIC) - leaked from the Union Carbide plant near the city, and all hell broke loose.
It became the world's worst industrial disaster, killing an estimated 15,000 people. But, that, unfortunately, was just the start of it. The city was never to be the same again.
Twenty-three years since, the nightmare is far from over. The factory remains, in worse condition than before with toxic waste - an estimated 8,000 tons of carcinogenic chemicals - still strewn about its grounds. Since the leak, waste from the plant has continued to infect the groundwater of the nearby residential areas. More than 100,000 people suffer from all sorts of acute medical conditions - from tuberculosis, blindness, cancer - as well as serious birth defects and Union Carbide's is blamed.
After the disaster - which, according to many, was just waiting to happen because of the extremely poor safety norms followed by Union Carbide - the company tried to cut its losses and leave the site - and the country - as soon as possible. It was aware of the fact that laws had been flouted in the past, since smaller leaks had occurred before and had even led to some workers being killed, but no action had been taken. There were those within the company who had worried about safety before the incident, but their voices had fallen on deaf ears.
Warren Anderson, the then CEO of Union Carbide, was briefly arrested, but then let go. Right after the incident, he did precious little to contain the damage, not even sending in a team to clean up the toxic waste that, two decades later, still seriously affects the residents. What's worse, that at the time the company did not even disclose the composition of the poisonous gas. It was afraid that people would realize the extent of damage it could cause. This was a particularly cruel act, for it prevented doctors from treating the victims who were swarming the hospitals, many choking and dying on the streets on their way.
Mr. Anderson fled to the United States and has since ignored all summons by the Indian courts, which have charged him with homicide. The U.S. has ignored India's demands for his extradition, while he lives in luxury in the Hamptons.
In 1989, Union Carbide made an out of court settlement and paid $470 million to the Indian government as compensation, which gave between $300-$500 to the victims for their lifelong disabilities - the fact that the number of victims had increased some five times (and still counting) was not considered, thus the paltry amount per person. But in 1999, Union Carbide was bought by Dow Chemicals which wanted nothing to do with Bhopal and its aftermath. It insisted, and still does, that it did not inherit the liabilities and refused to either pay for cleaning up the site, or to compensate the victims for years of contamination.
But the residents of Bhopal have had enough. On Feb 20th of this year, some fifty people, ranging in age from 11 to 80, started a 500-mile march from Bhopal to New Delhi to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and plead their case. Many of them have walking disabilities and have made the journey by stopping at temples and hostels along the way, arriving into the capital on March 28th. It's part of a campaign to demand that Dow clean up the site and that they be compensated for their sufferings.
A similar march had taken place two years ago and many promises had been made - the usual committees set up, funds allocated, and so on- but little concrete action's come of any of this. Still, Bhopal's victims are not giving up their demand for justice. They have, so far, been failed by both the Indian government, as well as the American giants - both Carbide and Dow - who owe moral responsibility to clean up the mess.
The question that then comes to mind is, that if such a disaster had not happened in a developing country like India, but had happened, say in the U.S., would the conglomerates have got away with it?
Not a chance.