subject: Verdict In The Bhopal Tragedy [print this page] On the night of December 2, 1984, India experienced Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No, it was not that China or Pakistan dropped an atom bomb on Delhi. If that happened, perhaps the entire world would have decried the action in unison. There would have been waves of sympathy everywhere in the world. The aids would have poured in heavily.
What happened was much worse. It was the worlds worst industrial catastrophe. There was a leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins from Union Carbide India Ltd., a pesticide plant in Bhopal. More than 5 lakh people were exposed to hazardous substances. The death toll so far has been in the range of 2000 to 15000 depending on who you believe. Others have suffered from injuries and disablements of various kinds.
People have struggled for 26 years for adequate compensation. Many also hoped for severe punishment for wrong-doers. They are grossly disappointed when the verdict came in June 2010. Seven ex-employees, including the former chairman of UCIL were convicted of causing death by negligence. They were sentenced to two years imprisonment and fine about $2000 each.
What more can we expect from our law? It has done its best. It has been an age old experience that law respect the rich. But the point is even if it had sentenced them to death, could we have undone the mass funerals and mass cremations that followed in the aftermath of Bhopal gas tradedy? You will realise how humanity has been distorted by the gas leak for a generation. If humanity wants to avoid such death traps dependence on law has to be reduced. The need is to consider sustainable development seriously and not merely as a fashion statement.
The only solution to this problem is to strike at its roots. We do not only have to run after medicines to cure disease. Lets prevent the incidence of disease in the first place or better still. Lets promote health. Remember the main culprit of the Bhopal tragedy was not Warren Anderson. Neither was the law. It was the pesticide plant.
