JOIN USThe Centre has received a rap on its knuckles from the Supreme Court for failing to clean up the toxic waste at the Bhopal plant of Union Carbide Corporation.
Twenty-eight years ago, tones of deadly methyl isocyanate gas was spewed by UCC’s plant in Bhopal resulting in the immediate death of thousands of people and the maiming and death of many times that number over the years. The lethal waste from that disaster still lies in the premises of the plant.
But the danger is not confined to the plant as pesticides and heavy metals have been found in soil and water outside the plant premises. This is threatening the lives of thousands of people living in Bhopal.
Although victims and activists have worked through a powerful international campaign to pressure Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide Corporation in 2001, to clean up the waste, Dow has refused to do so, arguing that it cannot be held accountable for Union Carbide’s liabilities.
Consequently, it has done nothing to clean up the waste.
The apex court has slammed the Indian government saying that its failure to dispose the waste stems from the victims being poor. Indeed, right from the day of the disaster, the government has rarely stood by the victims, most of whom were poor people living in the slums around the Union Carbide plant.
Anxious not to scare away Dow and other foreign investors who are eyeing investment in India, the government has taken a soft approach towards Dow. This pro-investment outlook of the government has stood in the way of some justice being done by the victims of the disaster.
Activists are rightly pointing out that moving the waste out of Bhopal is hardly a solution. The area in and around the plant must be decontaminated. Importantly, Dow must pay the bill.
The polluter must pay. If the Indian government forks out the money for the clean-up, in a bid to avoid ruffling the feathers of the multi-national corporation, the financial burden falls on the Indian tax payer.
A couple of years ago, Jairam Ramesh, then the Union environment minister, dramatically picked up soil from the site to show it wasn’t toxic. While the government engages in theatrics, ordinary people are dying after drinking water contaminated by the waste.