Bhopal gas disaster survivors commemorate the 18th anniversary of the gas disaster by burning effigies of the Chief Ministerof Madyha Pradesh (Digvijay Singh), Indian's Prime Minister (Vajpayee Bihari) and former CEO of Union Carbide (Warren Anderson) close by the gates of the former Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the 3 December 2002 where 100's tonnes of toxic waste still abandoned.
Dow Chemical last week approached Indian courts in an attempt to
sue Bhopal survivors and their supporters, including Greenpeace
(1), for holding peaceful demonstrations on the eve of the 18th
anniversary of the gas disaster. Dow is demanding that protestors
pay 10,400 US dollars "for loss of work" and asking for a
restraining order from holding future protests.
On December 2nd, survivors and supporters walked through central
Bombay to Dow Chemical's Indian headquarters to deliver their
grievances. They delivered contaminated soil and water from the
disaster scene and challenged Dow to clean up Bhopal. The
procession was led by approximately 200 women, who had traveled
from Bhopal to Bombay to lend their support and deliver hundreds of
brooms to Dow with the message Jhadoo Maro Dow Ko" or "Dow, clean
up your mess". (2)
Mrs Champadevi Shukla, who survived the Bhopal disaster and led
the women in the procession and who is now sued by Dow, said: "We
delivered the brooms, the toxic soil and the contaminated drinking
water to Dow. We want them to take our cause seriously and save
thousands of lives by cleaning up the dangerous chemicals that have
been left in Bhopal. It's time Dow stops killing us and adequately
compensate the victims for the medical care and loss of lives and
livelihoods."
The soil and groundwater in and around the deserted Union
Carbide pesticide factory has become increasingly contaminated
since 1984. Hundreds of tonnes of hazardous waste was left
abandoned by Union Carbide when it fled the city after a gas leak
caused the world s worst industrial disaster killing 8,000 people
in the first three days and 12,000 more since. At least one person
a day still dies from gas exposure related diseases and 150,000 are
in urgent need of medical attention. Hundreds of families living
near the site still routinely use the contaminated water.
"Thousands have lost their lives, over 150,000 people in Bhopal
are still suffering ill health because of the Union Carbide gas
tragedy in1984", said Satyu of the Bhopal Group for Information and
Action in Bhopal and one of the protesters sued by Dow. "It is
beyond belief that Dow should be demanding money from penniless
people who they destroyed in the first place."
Since the disaster, no one has taken responsibility for the
contaminated factory site in Bhopal or the waste that still lays
there (3). Union Carbide's confidential internal documents (4),
reveal that the company was fully aware of the contamination it was
causing at the Bhopal factory site but did nothing to clean it up.
Union Carbide and its Chief Executive Officer at the time of the
disaster, Warren Anderson, absconded from justice and, since Dow
Chemical bought Union Carbide in February 2001, it has similarly
refused to accept any responsibility for the ongoing disaster in
Bhopal (5).
"Suing penniless survivors is not the way to show goodwill
towards the Bhopal people, especially during this time of year,"
said Von Hernandez, Greenpeace Campaigner. "With the new CEO at Dow
we would have expected them to come out of habitual denial and
begin to recognize their liability for the horrendous disaster they
created."
VVPR info: Video: Martin Atkin, +31 627 000057; Photos: John Novis + 31 6538 19121
Notes: (1) Greenpeace is a member of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal that is demanding that Dow cleans up the contamination in Bhopal, provide long term health care to survivors, clean running drinking water, social and economic rehabilitation, and full compensation for survivors. (2) Last October, gas affected women in Bhopal issued an international appeal asking people to collect jhadoos (brooms). In India, being struck by a jhadoo is the ultimate insult. By delivering jhadoos to Dow, the women are telling Dow to clean up its mess in Bhopal or be swept off the planet. (3) For further scientific information about the hazardous waste at the factory site or chemicals found in the soil and water, see "The Bhopal Legacy" on www.greenpeace.org (4) See "Poison Papers" on www.bhopal.net or www.greenpeace.org(5) On 31st August 2002, Greenpeace served a statutory notice to the government of Indian to notify it that Dow, as the new owners of Union Carbide, is liable for the clean up of Bhopal and that it is violating Indian law by leaving the toxic waste at the Bhopal factory site. The Indian government said it agrees that the existence of hazardous chemicals at the site is illegal. On 23rd October 2002, Greenpeace presented Dow with technical guidelines that explained how to properly clean up the toxic site in Bhopal.