[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he escape of about 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) – a highly toxic chemical – from a storage tank on the premises of the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal – the capital of the State of Madhya Pradesh – on the night of 02/03 December 1984 resulted in a horrendous disaster in the city, which was inhabited by about 900,000 persons then. Due to criminal negligence and utter callousness on the part of the plant management in taking adequate safety precautions, water and other impurities – that cause MIC to react violently – entered one of the MIC storage tanks resulting in exothermic reactions and forcing MIC and its reaction products to escape in the form of froth and lethal gases. The escaping poisonous gases, which were heavier than air, spread across 40 sq. kms of area of Bhopal, covering about 36 of the 56 municipal wards, leaving in its wake more than 20,000 dead (over several years) and inflicting injuries in varying degree on about 550,000 others. The pernicious impact on flora and fauna in the affected area was equally grave. UCIL was then under the control of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) – a U.S. multinational company, which is currently owned by Dow-DuPont that emerged out of the merger between The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company ("DuPont"), effective 31 Aug, 2017.
As noted on previous occasions, even three decades after the disaster, neither the State nor the Central Government has attempted either to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the ramifications of the disaster or to take necessary remedial measures. The unjust Settlement of 14/15.02.1989 was a complete sham with each gas-victim being finally awarded less than one-fifth of the sum allotted even as per the terms of that settlement. As a result, the gas-victims have had to wage concerted struggles in their quest for medical relief & rehabilitation, compensation, environmental remediation and justice. There was little progress during 2018 on the most pressing issues concerning the gas-victims, which is a matter of serious concern. The current status of issues such as health care, compensation, rehabilitation, prosecution of the accused, remediation of the environment, etc., may be briefly recounted as follows:
1.1 It was because of this utter insensitivity on the part of the Union of India and the State of Madhya Pradesh that BGPMUS, the Bhopal Group for Information & Action (BGIA) and BGPSSS – as Petitioners Nos.1, 2 and 3 – had filed a Writ Petition (No.50 of 1998) before the Supreme Court on 14.01.1998. The Petitioners pleaded for restarting of disaster-related medical research, monitoring & recording the health status of each gas-victim, improvement in health care facilities, appropriate protocol for treatment of each disaster-related ailment, etc. After 14 years of litigation, and after several interim directions, the Supreme Court finally issued a comprehensive Order on 09.08.2012 acceding to the above prayers of the Petitioners and issued necessary directions to the Union of India, the State of MP and to concerned institutions in this regard. The Petitioners were further directed to pursue the matter before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh (as Writ Petition No.15658 of 2012), a task that BGPMUS & BGPSSS are actively engaged in at present. However, the fact remains that even 75 months after the Supreme Court had passed the said Order dated 09.08.2012, neither the UOI nor the State Government has taken the necessary steps to comply fully with all the directions of the Court. What is most appalling and disheartening is that even 34 years after the disaster, proper health records of the gas-victims are not being maintained and, although claims are being made to the contrary, the fact is that most of the gas-victims do not have a hard copy of his/her complete medical record in his/her possession to date. ICMR (through the Advisory Committee) has also disclosed that over 170,000 gas-victims are regularly seeking treatment at BMHRC since it was founded in the year 2000.
1.2 Due to the failure of the Respondents to comply with the said Order of the Supreme Court dated 09.08.2012, BGPMUS & BGPSSS were compelled to file a Contempt Petition (No.832 of 2015) on 15.05.2015 against the concerned officials of UOI, State of MP and allied institutions such as ICMR, National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH) and Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre (BMHRC). After the Government of India took control of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust (BMHT) in 2010, BMHRC was initially placed under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy & Department of Bio-Technology. Thereafter the management of the hospital was handed over to ICMR in 2012 and then to the Department of Health Research (DHR) in 2015. However, certain vested interests were determined to thwart the adoption of Central Health Service (CHS) Recruitment Rules (RR) by BMHRC for recruiting doctors and other auxiliary staff. Therefore, BGPMUS & BGPSSS brought the matter to the attention of the MP High Court at Jabalpur. Concurrently, the Monitoring Committee headed by Justice V.K Agarwal (Retd) also brought to the attention of the High Court the undue delay on the part of concerned agencies in implementation of the Monitoring Committee's recommendations regarding RR and other related matters. As a result, the High Court issued an Order dated 15.02.2017 directing DHR to implement the recommendations of the Monitoring Committee within three months. Due to the failure of DHR to comply with the directions of the High Court dated 15.02.2017 within the stipulated time, BGPMUS & BGPSSS was again forced to seek further directions from the High Court, including a plea to make BMHRC an integral part of AIIMS, Bhopal, which is one of the elite medical institutions in the country, so that the gas-victims are assured the best medical care. Subsequently, in an affidavit filed by DHR before the High Court on 01.11.2017, DHR informed the Court that a formal decision has been taken by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, to induct BMHRC as a part of AIIMS, Bhopal, and that the decision was awaiting sanction from the Union Cabinet. The Court had granted DHR time until 08.01.2018 to do the needful. However, the Government of India has no qualms in flouting the Court's orders with impunity. More than six years have passed and the Government has not yet complied with the Supreme Court Order dated 09.08.2012. Thus, the MP High Court at Jabalpur had no option but to issue another warning to the Government of India vide Order dated 02.07.2018, which states as follows: "We make it clear that in view of the lapse of six years, this Court would be constrained to take strict measures against the respondents in case their laxity shown by them continues." Despite such orders, the Government continues to remain unperturbed.
1.3 A shocking and disgraceful act that came to light in 2008 was the illegal manner in which secret drug trials were conducted on gas-victims at BMHRC during 2004-2008. After the matter become public, the authorities at BMHRC made every effort to shield the culprits. BGPMUS & BGPSSS have sought detailed inquiry into this unsavory incident of using gas-victims as guinea pigs and have demanded stringent action against the guilty. For pursuing the matter, BGPMUS & BGPSSS have become interveners in Writ Petition (C) No.33 of 2012, which was filed to oppose unregulated drug trials in the country, especially by multinational drug companies, and the matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
3.1 Ten to fourteen days imprisonment at the time of arrest in 1984 is the only privation that seven of the accused (Nos.2 to 9) have suffered so far (accused No.4 has not faced even that inconvenience to date)! Under the circumstances, the culprits are least perturbed about the likelihood of being imprisoned any further in their lifetime and the next of kin of the dead and the surviving victims are left with not even the faintest hope that justice would be rendered to them in their lifetime for the loss & suffering they have had to endure during the last 34 years. This apathy speaks volumes about the pathetic state of the criminal justice system in the country that renders justice only on selective basis. When the governments at the Centre and the States are not serious in pursuing a criminal case, they can scuttle the due process with impunity and, thereby, make a complete mockery of the criminal justice system. The next date of hearing is on 29.11.2018.
3.2 The criminal case against the three absconding accused, namely accused Nos.1, 10 and 11, which has been pending before the Court of the CJM, Bhopal, as Miscellaneous Judicial Case (MJC) No.91 of 1992 has also been proceeding at an equally tardy pace. After acceding to the plea of BGPSSS, BGIA and BGPMUS dated 07.09.2001, the CJM had issued notice to the Dow Chemical Company (Dow), USA, on 06.01.2005 to appear in the criminal case on behalf of the absconding accused No.10, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), USA, which had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow in 2001. However, on 17.03.2005, the MP High Court at Jabalpur had stayed the said order of the CJM at the urging of a purportedly non-party in the matter. The stay was vacated only seven years later on 19.10.2012, when the High Court finally upheld the validity of the CJM's Order dated 06.01.2005. After BGPSSS & BGPMUS brought the ruling of the High Court to the attention of the CJM, Bhopal, through an Application dated 30.11.2012 in MJC No.91/1992, the CJM re-issued notice to Dow on 24.07.2013, 01.03.2014, 12.11.2014 and on 22.01.2016. On 11.07.2016, the CBI informed the concerned Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had forwarded the notice to the U.S. Department of Justice on 01.02.2016 and a reminder was further sent by the MHA on 15.06.2016. However, Dow has repeatedly failed to respond to the notice. Meanwhile, the proceedings against accused no.1, Warren Anderson, have become infractuous after his demise on 29.09.2014.
3.3 On 19.11.2016, BGPSSS & BGPMUS filed an application urging the CJM, Bhopal to proceed ex parte for consideration of Application dated 07.09.2001 in terms of the orders of the CJM dated 15.06.2004 and 06.01.2005 and proceedings against the Dow Chemical Company for wilful violation of summons of the CJM. The next date of hearing before the CJM is 28.11.2018. The lackadaisical manner in which the trial against the accused in the Bhopal disaster criminal case has proceeded for the last thirty-four years makes a mockery of the criminal justice system in the country. Neither the Central Government nor the State Government appear to be serious in pursuing the criminal cases against the accused, including the new entity Dow-DuPont, which is indicative of their total lack of commitment to the cause of the gas-victims.
3.4 Interestingly, in response to an application filed by Abdul Jabbar Khan and Shanawaz Khan on 15.06.2010, the CJM Bhopal on 19.11.2016 ordered a case to be registered against Moti Singh, a retired IAS officer and against Swaraj Puri, a retired IPS officer, under Sections 212, 217 and 221 of IPC for sheltering Accused No.1, Warren Anderson, and allowing him to escape from Bhopal on 07.12.1984. Although summonses were issued to Mr.Singh and Mr.Puri to appear before the Court on 08.12.2016, they filed an appeal for stay before the Bhopal Sessions Court, which dismissed the plea. Thereafter, Moti Singh and Swaraj Puri filed a petition MCRC no. 15788/2017 under Section 482 of CRPC before the MP High Court, which has upheld their plea vide judgment dated 01.08.2018. Jabbar and Shanawaz are in the process of filing an appeal against the MP High Court ruling before the Supreme Court.
4.1 Based on the "Polluter Pays Principle", it is the duty and responsibility of the Dow-DuPont, USA, which currently owns UCC, to meet the cost of remediating comprehensively the affected environment in and around the UCIL plant with the latest available remediation technology. Similarly, the cost of providing safe-drinking water to the affected population residing in and around the former UCIL plant too has to be borne by Dow-DuPont. However, the responsibility for providing safe drinking water to the affected population is entirely that of the State Government, which has not fulfilled this responsibility till now. While ground water in several localities of Bhopal is highly polluted, neither the State Government nor the Bhopal Municipal Corporation have undertaken any scientific study to monitor the situation and take remedial action. Moreover, local residents who fall sick because of consumption of polluted water are not even provided free medical treatment.
4.2 Remediation of the estimated 1,100,000 MT of contaminated soil is a far more difficult task. At the initiative of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Delhi, a preliminary attempt was made in April 2013 to bring together on a common platform the various stakeholders (including BGPMUS & BGPSSS) and experts to prepare an Action Plan to remediate the degraded environment. While a draft Action Plan has been worked out, it requires further refinement as well as inputs from other experts and stakeholders, including the Government of Madhya Pradesh, which refused to attend the workshop organized by CEC. The stoic indifference of the State Government to this daunting task is alarming. In situ decontamination of the toxic waste (including the contaminated soil & groundwater) using closed-loop remediation technologies is a possibility. With inputs and technical help from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), onsite cleaning up of the contaminated site in Bhopal is quite feasible. However, the Government of India has to take the initiative in inviting the UNEP to undertake this task. It goes without saying that the entire costs for the cleanup of the contaminate site should be ultimately borne by the Dow-DuPont, the present owners of accused No.10, UCC.
5.1 The pittance, which was disbursed as compensation in most instances to these sections was never enough to take care of their daily needs. Finding gainful employment in accordance with the reduced capacity to work and to lead a dignified life has been a serious challenge. Similarly, only partial steps have been taken by the state and central government about providing life support pension to gas-widows and persons disabled because of the gas disaster. The State Government has to give far more attention and provide far larger support to the most vulnerable sections of gas-victims than in the past.
On the 34th anniversary of this man-made-disaster, the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sanghathan (BGPMUS) and the Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti (BGPSSS) pay their homage to the deceased victims and reiterate their determination to continue to uphold the cause of the survivors and to seek justice for the hapless victims.
Signed,
Abdul Jabbar Khan N.D. Jayaprakash
Convener, BGPMUS, Co-Convener, BGPSSS
Tel: 0755-2748688 Tel: 011-27666980
Mobile: +91-9406511720 Mobile: +91-8448243990
STATEMENT ON THE 34th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BHOPAL GAS LEAK DISASTER
Issued by:
BHOPAL GAS PEEDITH MAHILA UDYOG SANGHATHAN (BGPMUS)
51, Rajender Nagar, Bhopal – 462010
&
BHOPAL GAS PEEDITH SANGHARSH SAHAYOG SAMITI (BGPSSS)
C/o Delhi Science Forum, Khasra No.275, Saiyad Ul Ajaib
(Near Saket Metro), New Delhi – 110030