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Bhopal protests move online

Greenpeace activists and locals are arrested before starting to clean up contamination site in Bhopal. Enlarge Image

Bhopal cleanup team arrested

Within a half hour of arriving on site to clean up Bhopal, around 60 protesters including local residents and Greenpeace activists were arrested. It was estimated that more than 100 police in riot gear swarmed over the peaceful action, which was taking place at the former Union Carbide factory, now owned by Dow, where a deadly gas leak in 1984 killed thousands and blinded and maimed thousands more. Former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson has been wanted for culpable homicide for more than a decade for his role in the accident.

Victims of the Bhopal disaster protest outside Dow's headquarters in Bombay. Enlarge Image

Dow gets what it deserves

Eighteen years is a long time to wait for anything. If you are waiting for the day your drinking water is free of poisons, a time when you have more than a few dollars compensation to help relieve the pain of chronic illnesses and an environment not littered with toxic wastes, then it is an eternity. When the company responsible for 18 years of suffering is the world's richest chemical company there is a clear message - Dow clean up Bhopal now!

Bhopal activist Nity Jayaraman arrested in Bhopal. Enlarge Image

Charges dropped and apologies offered

Specialists and trained activists from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal were brutally assaulted by the police last week when they entered the derelict Union Carbide factory site trying to contain a fraction of the tonnes of hazardous waste lying abandoned at the factory site. But now charges will be dropped and the brutal treatment acknowledged.

Greenpeace activists and Bhopal residents today placed a monument at the Dow headoffice in Terneuzen, Netherlands. Enlarge Image

Investment firms tell Dow to invest in Bhopal clean up

A group of socially responsible investment firms, with combined assets valued at $13 billion, are urging Dow Chemical Company to address the ongoing economic, health and environmental liabilities stemming from a poisonous gas leak in Bhopal, India in 1984, which has killed and injured tens of thousands of people.

Victims of the Bhopal disaster protest outside Dow's headquarters in Bombay. Enlarge Image

How low can Dow go?

In a stunning example of corporate insensibility, Dow Chemical, the world´s largest chemical company, and new owner of Union Carbide, is to sue survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. While the site of the disaster lies covered in toxic waste and survivors struggle with continuing ill health and deadly pollution from the site, Dow has decided to add to their woes with an Indian lawsuit.

Greenpeace activists on their way to Dow headquarters in the Netherlands to deliver a deadly cargo of waste from the Bhopal site in India, in big yellow barrels. From left to right: Rashida Bi, Bhopal survivor, Monique Harthoorn, Dutch campaigner, and Ganesh Nochur, Indian campaigner. Enlarge Image

Dow refuses to take back its waste

Activists from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal wanted to give something back to Dow today: a few barrels of the waste the chemical giant refuses to clean up. Dow's response: arrests of over twenty activists.

Skulls of the victims of the disaster used to investigate the effects of the gas leak on the brain Enlarge Image

Take the message direct to Dow Chemical

Despite having received over 15,000 emails and many thousands of postcards and letters urging them to clean up their mess in Bhopal, India, Dow Chemical is continuing to ignore growing public outcry. We want that to change today and that is why we are asking you to join our international call-in to Dow.

Skulls of the victims of the disaster used to investigate the effects of the gas leak on the brain Enlarge Image

Dow's 'Vision of Zero'

After a very successful international call-in day to Dow Chemical, it is clear that Dow does not care what the public thinks. Dow shut down its public lines and refused to answer questions from thousands of concerned callers.

The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) returns contaminated drinking water from Bhopal, India, to Dow Chemical's Texas headquarters. Enlarge Image

Bhopal waste returned to Dow

"Our message is simple," said Greenpeace's Casey Harrell. "Dow must clean up Bhopal now and accept full responsibility for the health and environmental damage in that city. Until it does so, Dow will never be a responsible corporate citizen."

Bhopal survivors and activists start their hunger strike on Wall Street. Enlarge Image

Hungry for justice

Eight days into an indefinite hunger strike, two survivors of the world's worst chemical disaster in Bhopal, India brought the disaster home to top executives of Dow Chemical. The survivors addressed shareholders and leadership at Dow's Annual General Meeting at its headquarters in the US , demanding that the company take responsibility for the health consequences and environmental impacts of its operations in Bhopal and other communities around the world that have been poisoned by Dow.

Union Carbide accident survivor's weekly meeting, Bhopal, India Enlarge Image

Step closer to justice for Bhopal

The government of India has finally bowed to pressure and agreed to allow a US Court to possibly rule that Dow Chemical should clean up the site of the ongoing Bhopal disaster. Mounting pressure from three determined hunger strikers, intensive lobbying by us, other Bhopal groups and thousands of online activists helped turn round the position of the Indian government.

Greenpeace displays a banner with pictures of the victims of the world's worst industrial disaster-Bhopal- at the opening of an international textile exhibition in Paris, where DOW Chemical, the entity responsible for the 1984 disaster presented a new fibre called XLA. Greenpeace is asking Dow Chemical to face its moral and financial responsibilities before investing in new markets. Enlarge Image

Dow's fashion show visited by Bhopal survivors

At the opening of the Premier Vision textile exhibition in Paris, activists dressed in black t-shirts - each one revealing the faces of Bhopal victims - confronted Dow Chemical as the company presented its new fibre, XLA. Dow Chemical is responsible for the 1984 disaster in the Indian city of Bhopal - a tragedy that still continues, even twenty years later.

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Latest Update

Latest Update: On Wednesday at 14:40 GMT the bhopal.com website was down. This may be due to the sheer numbers of people taking part in the online protest or while Dow attempts technical fixes to avoid the protest on its website. Yesterday after the action to deliver polluted Bhopal water back to a Dow plant in Texas, Dow confirmed it will not drop the case. Help us maintain the pressure and we will keep you informed of developments.