MNCs
are ruling the roost everywhere – there have been threats of them entering
retail sector – right now you can see so many MNCs in every sphere – beautiful
offices housed in big building; efficient staff, utilization of technology,
local benefits from International operations – and what is more, you are
trading with an International entity – it is fail proof – strongly backed by a
giant Company headquartered elsewhere, folk, it is not simply an Indian Company
which will vanish and not dependent on a single person in India – does it not
make sense to buy only MNC product ???????
The
famed city of King Bhoja perhaps named Bhojpal
after the king and the dam ("pal") constructed by him, slowly
fell to obscurity, and by the early 18th
century Bhopal was a small village in the local Gond kingdom. The present
capital of Madhya Pradesh is not as famous as many other cities are – in 1969,
a factory to produce pesticide Sevin, using methyl isocyanate (MIC) as an
intermediate was started – and in hindsight this has caused untold woes and
tribulations to thousands of poor Indian citizens. .
More
than 28 years ago, during the night of December 2–3, 1984, water entered Tank
E610 containing 42 tons of MIC. The resulting exothermic reaction increased the
temperature inside the tank to over200 °C (392 °F) and raised the pressure.
About 30 metric tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) escaped from the tank into the
atmosphere in 45 to 60 minutes. The gases were blown by southeasterly winds
over Bhopal – and that is the Bhopal
disaster, a gas leak considered one of
the world's worst industrial catastrophes. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official
immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to
the gas release. A government affidavit
in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary
partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.
Union
Carbide India Limited [UCIL] was the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide
Corporation (UCC), with Indian Government controlled banks and the Indian
public holding a 49.1 percent stake. In 1994, the Supreme Court of India
allowed UCC to sell its 50.9 percent share. Union Carbide sold UCIL, the Bhopal plant operator, to
Eveready Industries India Limited in 1994. The Bhopal
plant was later sold to McLeod Russel (India ) Ltd. Dow Chemical Company
purchased UCC in 2001.
On
the night of tragedy, it was chaotic - Medical staff were unprepared for the
thousands of casualties; Doctors and hospitals were not informed of proper
treatment methods for MIC gas inhalation. They were told to simply give cough
medicine and eye drops to their patients; there was mass evacuation on that
night and subsequently when the tanks 611 and 619 were emptied of the
remaining MIC. Sadly decades after the
tragedy, victims have not been paid just compensation after knocking the doors
of many Courts.
Now
comes another blow as an American court
has dismissed all claims by Indian plaintiffs against Union Carbide ruling that
neither Union Carbide or the then chairman Warren Anderson was responsible for
any environmental fallout which was a result of a gas leak in Bhopal in December 1984 that killed thousands
of people. The court ruled that Union
Carbide is not liable for any claims made by plaintiffs Janki Bai Sahu and
others. The court also dismissed all claims made against Anderson .
US
District Judge John Keena said Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) was not
responsible for causing soil and water pollution in Bhopal as it was Union Carbide India Ltd that
owned the plant and not the parent company UCC. He also added that since Union
Carbide sold its stake in the India
unit, it's not liable for the clean-up.
In
sum and substance, the Judgment perhaps underlines that there was no evidence
that the parent body’s approval for the actions of the Indian arm could be
established. Crudely akin to telling
that if somebody slaps, it is his hand and not he mind or the person who is
responsible for that action. The Judge is quoted as stating that "it is beyond dispute that Union
Carbide India "
-- and not the U.S.-based parent -- "generated and disposed of the waste
which allegedly polluted plaintiffs' drinking water." The court added that
since Union Carbide sold its stake in the India unit, it's not liable for the
clean-up.
The
activists who had taken the tragedy to US Court have expressed disappointment at
the dismissal of the case, but added that they are determined to appeal. Way back in 1989 Indian Supreme Court asked Union
Carbide to pay $470 million in damages to the victims. Many organizations have
been fighting since for a higher just compensation. There has also been the issue of site
clean-up, as the State is unsure of how to get rid of the toxic waste. Those who
have been fighting for feel that the present owner - Dow Chemical has failed to
fulfill its moral obligations of paying adequate compensation and cleaning up
the site of the disaster. Dow Chemicals
claims that it bought Union Carbide 16 years after the tragedy -- and so it
can't be held liable.
In
2004, activists working on behalf of residents who lived near the factory filed
a class action lawsuit in the U.S. seeking damages from Union Carbide, now a
part of Dow Chemicals Co., to finance the removal of pollutants from the site,
pay compensation to residents whose water source was contaminated by toxic
waste and set up a facility to monitor the health of local residents. The present
utterance is clearly a setback to the victims who have undergone harrowing
times, many have died since fighting the losing battle with a giant MNC backed
by lawyers exploiting all possible loopholes.
The
Bano v Union Carbide in district court of Manhattan ,
New York demanding compensation has faced more reverses than any movement
towards compensation. In 2003 it was dismissed
on the grounds of statute of limitation. Subsequently more pitched in for action
against Union Carbide and Warren Anderson and that they should be held
accountable on the grounds that they were direct participants and joint
tortfeasors in the activities that resulted in the pollution and that that they
worked in concert with Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to cause, exacerbate,
or conceal the pollution. Now the Court
has ruled in favour of the defendants. Now
owned by Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide denies allegations against it on
its website dedicated to the tragedy. The corporation claims that the incident
was the result of sabotage, stating that safety systems were in place and
operative. It also stresses that it did all it could to alleviate human
suffering following the disaster.
UCC
Chairman, CEO Warren Anderson was arrested and released on bail by the Madhya
Pradesh Police in Bhopal
on December 7, 1984. The arrest, which took place at the airport, ensured Anderson would meet no harm by the Bhopal community. Anderson was taken to UCC's house after which
he was released six hours later on $2,100 bail and flown out on a government
plane. In 1987, the Indian government summoned Anderson, eight other executives
and two company affiliates with homicide charges to appear in Indian court. Union
Carbide balked, saying the company is not under Indian jurisdiction. Thus a man charged
with manslaughter and declared fugitive
from justice by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal did not even try to make an
appearance.
So
Justice for victims keeps eluding and perhaps has almost vanished. Interestingly,
a WikiLeak relase in Feb 2012 revealed
that Dow Chemicals had engaged an agency to spy on the public and personal
lives of activists involved in the Bhopal
disaster, including the Yes Men. Stratfor released a statement condemning the
revelation by Wikileaks while neither confirming nor denying the accuracy of
the reports, and would only state that it had acted within the bounds of the
law; Dow Chemicals would not comment on the matter.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar .