Press release - June 16, 2005
BHOPAL, India — Greenpeace activists present in Bhopal to monitor the containment operation beginning at the Union Carbide site today, have been denied access to the site by the Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) and the Ministry for Gas Relief and Rehabilitation. Late last night, the authorities denied Greenpeace’ request to be allowed to assess the capacity and preparedness of workers of the private company contracted for the operation, and to ensure that correct protocols were followed at the site. In response, Greenpeace activists, who were even prepared to support the state authorities by way of safety equipment, have decided to boycott the containment operation completely.
The safety centre kiosk outside the Union Carbide factory premises.
"We have followed due process and sought monitoring permission
through every appropriate bureaucratic channel. In response, the
authorities have strung us along consistently, and led us to
believe that they would ensure transparency during the
containment," said Vinuta Gopal, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace
India from their camp at a local hotel, "It is quite apparent that
the authorities are miffed with us for our repeated pictorial
exposés of workers being exposed to toxic chemicals without even
the minimum required Personal Protective Equipment. By backing off
from their commitments to us at the last possible minute, they have
reconfirmed our worst fears that they are not going to conform to
the required standards for such a containment."
For the past two weeks, Greenpeace and ICJB activists bearing
witness at the site have repeatedly exposed the inadequacy and
incompetence of the state authorities in ensuring workers' safety,
as well as the limitations of the protocols being followed for the
proposed containment. The activists had set up a Workers' Safety
Centre outside the factory site to raise awareness amongst the
authorities and local population on the need for Personal
Protective Equipment for all workers at the site. Greenpeace has
also submitted to the government protocols developed by their
science unit to ensure that the best international standards are
followed for this, the first stage of the containment
operation.
Greenpeace has also raised objections to the second and third
phases of the proposed clean up process, citing that a landfill is
not a solution but will result in the creation of yet another time
bomb that will endanger the health of future generations of Bhopal
residents.
Greenpeace is demanding:
1. That the clean-up plans and
protocols be made public immediately and that the government
demonstrates a clear mechanism to recover costs from Union Carbide.
2. That the authorities will allow
independent experts, community representatives and NGOs to monitor the
containment to ensure complete transparency and accountability, best
safety standards for the workers and the communities living around the
factory site.
In the absence of the above demands
being met, Greenpeace is calling upon the MPPCB and the Bhopal Gas
Relief Cell to order an immediate halt to the dangerous containment
process.
View the
clean up safety slideshow here.
For further information, please contact:
Vinuta Gopal, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace India: +919845535418
Namrata Chowdhary, Media Officer, Greenpeace India:
+919810850092 
Currently in Bhopal at Room no 16, Hotel Banjara: 0755-2713105, 5254476