13th Anniversary Fact Sheet on the
Union Carbide Disaster in Bhopal
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) 51, Rajendra Nagar, Bhopal 462 010
* On the midnight of 2-3 December 1984, over 40
tonnes of deadly Methyl Isocyanate, Hydrogen Cyanide and other gases leaked from a hazardously designed and recklessly managed pesticide factory in Bhopal owned by US based multinational Union Carbide Corporation .
* Over 500,000 men, women and children were exposed
to the poison clouds and at least six thousand people died within the first week of the disaster. The current death toll is well over 16,000 and is rising.
* Hundreds of thousands of survivors continue to
suffer from multi-systemic injuries caused by exposure to toxic gases. The search for specific lines of treatment for the survivors. AE illnesses has been impeded due to withholding of medical information by Union Carbide and has long been abandoned by the Indian government. The
government has failed abysmally in the provision of economic, social and environmental
rehabilitation. The officials and agencies primarily responsible for the industrial genocide continue to abscond justice as the Indian government drags its feet over their extradition.
1. The medical situation in Bhopal continues to be
as grim as in the last 13 years. According to the latest reports of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) nearly one fourth of the exposed population is chronically ill with diseases of the respiratory, gastro-intestinal, reproductive, musculoskeletal, neurological and other systems. Corneal opacity and early age cataract are common in more than half a million exposed population. Breathlessness, loss of appetite, pain, menstrual irregularities, recurrent fever, persistent cough, neurological disorders, fatigue, weakness, anxiety and depression are the most common symptoms. Exposure to CarbideAEs gases has made people vulnerable to secondary infections ; according to the ICMR the incidence of tuberculosis in the affected population is more than three times higher than the national figure for urban populations. Chromosomal aberrations in an unusually large number of gas affected persons found earlier in an ICMR study point towards congenital malformations among the future generations of the survivors.
2. With the termination of all ICMR research
projects on the longterm medical impacts of the disaster in 1994, research and monitoring activities have been virtually abandoned. The Government of Madhya Pradesh had undertaken to continue with the work of monitoring health status of the survivors of the disaster through the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Bhopal. However, the said Centre has not published any report on the medical condition of the survivors since its taking over charge in March 1995.With the premature termination of research and monitoring and the governmentAEs failure to publish any reports on the health status of the gas affected people there is almost no current data on persistent exposure related morbidity and the prevalence of tuberculosis, cancers and infertility among the exposed population all of which are reported to be on the rise by doctors involved with the treatment of the survivors. The official set up for monitoring exposure related deaths has been disbanded in December 1992.
3. The International Medical Commission on Bhopal,
composed of 15 professionals from 11 countries and twelve areas of expertise that visited Bhopal in January 1994 and conducted
epidemiological and clinical studies have reported that more than 50,000 persons in Bhopal are suffering from total or partial disability because of their exposure to the toxic chemicals of Union Carbide. The Commission has found that the medical condition of the survivors of the disaster is far more serious and complex than previously thought. In addition to multisystemic damages documented by ICMR, the Commission has clinically identified neurotoxicological
injuries and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a significantly large population of exposed persons. Neurological examinations carried out on a randomly picked sample
population have presented evidence of central, peripheral and vestibular neurological disease. The Commission has called for a change in the centralized hospital based system of government medical care recommending the establishment of community based health units for every 5000 people.
4. The Madhya Pradesh governmentAEs response in
terms of medical care has primarily been to increase the number of hospitals and despite obvious lacunae in this approach the emphasis remains. In addition to the hospitals with a total of 275 beds five additional hospitals with a total of 740 beds have been built. Recently the state government has decided to transfer the newly constructed 540 - bed Kamla Nehru
ChildrenAEs Hospital from the Department of Gas Relief to the Department of Medical Education. In return, the survivors are being offered the 80 years old 300 - bed Sultania Zenana Hospital. It needs to be mentioned that Rs 18 crores have so far been spent, from the allocations made for medical relief of gas victims, on the
construction of the Kamla Nehru Hospital. In the 319 crores oAction Plan IIoe for relief and rehabilitation of gas victims, recently
submitted by the state government to the Centre, Rs. 126 crores have been requested for
runningthis hospital . Meanwhile the Indira Gandhi Women and Children Hospital built in 1995 at a cost of Rs. 6.5 crores remains to be made available for the treatment of gas affected children and women. The Pulmonary Medicine Centre that was completed in 1994 and is meant to provide specialized medical care to persons suffering from respiratory disorders remains without sanction of staff till today.
5. There are good reasons to believe that the
construction of hospital buildings by the state government is motivated by factors that have little to do with provision of medical care. The recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General contains the following remarks with regard to the hospitals being constructed by the Madhya Pradesh government supposedly for the welfare of the gas affected people.
". . . . . . For construction of
Kamla Nehru Hospital, State Government
accorded administrative approval for Rs. 498.75 lakhs in March 1987. . . . . . . . revised administrative approval (Rs. 1100 lakhs) was accorded in September 1992 . . . . . Despite incurring expenditure of
Rs. 829.19 lakhs up to March 1996 the
work was incomplete. Besides cost of
construction might go up to Rs. 1719.53
lakhs for which revised estimates were
submitted . . . . .
. . . . . Avoidable expenditure of
Rs. 55.14 lakhs was incurred on
construction of room for linear
accelerator for the above hospital . . . . .Excess payment of Rs. 11.73 lakhs
towards excess consumption of 108.592
tonnes of steel chips . . . was made due to incorrect computation of consumption
of steel chips per unit volume of
concrete. . . . . .
. . . . . . Further the
Superintendent Engineer had to incur an
additional avoidable expenditure of Rs
12.19 lakhs due to sanction and purchase of steel chips at the rate of Rs. 10.80
per kgs against the prevailing rate of Rs 5.68 per kg at which M/S Bharat Heavy
Electricals Limited (BHEL) were supplying steel chips.. . . . Besides, there were
also excess payment of Rs 9.26 lakhs due to incorrect determination of rates of
steel chips . . . . .
. . . . . . Construction of 100 bedded
ward in Indira Gandhi Hospital at an
estimated cost of Rs. 239 lakhs was
awarded to a contractor in April 1989
with stipulated period of construction of 24 months. The work was completed only in June 1994 at a cost of Rs 598.76 lakhs.
There was an excess payment of Rs. 10.44 lakhs on construction to contractors due to incorrect sanction of rates. . . .
. . . . . ."
6. For the last several months almost no
medicines are available to the gas victims at any of the 5 hospitals and 8 clinics meant for them. People who do not have money sufficient for their basic needs are asked to buy
medicines and even syringes and IV sets by doctors at these institutions that aresupposed to provide free medical care. The records relating to the stock position of medicines as on October 15, 1997, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, situated close to the most severely affected area, show that 78.95 % of the
medicines required to be supplied to patients are out of stock. The records further show that only 3 out of 114 medicines are available in quantities any where close to the requirement for the next three months. Records relating to the stock position of medicines available with the Chief Medical and Health Officer (Gas Relief),as on October 17, 1997, show that 57.15 % of the medicines required to be supplied to patients are out of stock . Over 70 % of the equipments in the hospitals and clinics under the Department of Gas Relief are dysfunctional. Most are in need of repair, accessories are missing in several and no one knows or cares about how to get them in working order. Among the numerous equipments meant for diagnosis and monitoring of exposure related illnesses that lie unused, the Gould Cardio Respiratory System has been awaiting repairs at Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital since 1990, Defibrillator with
Cardioscope lies idle at Master Lal Singh Hospital since 1992, X-Ray machine (100 MMR) is dysfunctional at Rukmabai Hospital since 1989, Pulmonary Function Test and Exercise Tolerance Test unit at Shakir Ali Khan Hospital is out of order since 1992. In one hospital, Pulmonary Medicine Centre, alone there are equipments worth Rs 1.25 crores that are lying unutilized from the time they were purchased.
7. Little attention has been paid towards
developing appropriate protocols for medical care in these hospitals. The medical treatment made available to the survivors has remained essentially unchanged since the morning of the disaster when nothing was known about the poisonous gases. Union Carbide continues to withhold information on the full composition of the leaked gases and their long term effects on the human body. In the absence of information doctors in Bhopal continue to indiscriminately prescribe antibiotics, steroids and psychotropic drugs which provide only temporary relief, if at all. A study undertaken by the International Medical Commission on Bhopal has pointed out that therapies prescribed for the ailing survivors at the government hospitals are aimed at temporary symptomatic relief rather than long term amelioration of chronic disease processes. The inadequacies of the governmentAEs health care system has led to a flourishing business situation for private medical practitioners. In the severely affected areas nearly 70% of the private doctors are not even professionally qualified, yet they form the mainstay of medical care in Bhopal.
8. The Bhopal Peoples Health and Documentation
Clinic run by the Sambhavna Trust and situated near the Union Carbide factory continues to provide free medical care to chronically ill persons from severely affected communities. Close to 6000 persons have been given medical care through modern medicine,Ayurveda and Yoga systems at the Clinic in the last one year and a significantly large number of them have reported over 50% relief in their persistent problems. Ongoing research on Yoga therapy at the Clinic shows sustained and significant improvement in lung capacity among survivors with respiratory disorders through Yogic practices. In July AE97 the Clinic organized a health camp in severely affected communities with the help of local medical specialists and a national seminar on possibilities in Ayurveda for the treatment of survivors of Bhopal was convened by the Trust in September. The Clinic is also monitoring exposure related deaths since 1992 through a scientific technique known as verbal autopsy. Funds for running the Clinic have been generated through contributions from over 6000 individuals who responded to appeals published in British newspapers.
9. The Central government, committed to provide 75%
of the funding required to carry out relief and rehabilitation in Bhopal has turned down the state governmentAEs five year Rs 319 crores oAction Plan IIoe. The centre has insisted that work conceived under the earlier Action Plan be completed prior to seeking additional grants and has provided Rs. 69.5 crores (Rs 54 crores for hospital construction and furnishing, Rs 6.67 crores for economic rehabilitation and Rs 8.5 crores for provision of drinking water and social rehabilitation) towards unfinished work. The proposed Action Plan II is as lopsided in its emphasis as earlier proposals of the state government. Out of the proposed budget of Rs. 245.79 crores (US $ 70 million) for medical relief , Rs.126.58 crores (51%) are meant to be spent in furnishing and running the Kamla Nehru Hospital. In comparison budgetary provisions for Community Health Scheme, Service Oriented Research and Indigenous System of medical care are Rs. 6 crores (2.4%), Rs. 3.45 crores (1.4%) and Rs. 1.05 crores (0.4%) respectively.
10. Employees of the Department of Gas Relief
agitated throughout the year pressing for regularization of their jobs. 2000 employees working under the Directorate of Gas Relief, the Chief Medical Officer, Additional Collector and the Industrial Training Institute have been declared osurplusoe by a government order of 1990 and it has been directed that these employees be absorbed in other government departments. Currently jobs of over 500 employees, most of whom are working under the Chief Medical Officer, remain to be regularized. Salaries of a large number of employees of the Department of Gas Relief are less than the officially
stipulated minimum. Employees struck work several times this year for as long as 33 days in one stretch during which period hospitals, claim tribunals and offices remained
inoperational.
11. Despite continued opposition by survivors
organizations, the state government has begun handing over the eight community clinics to the Bhopal Hospital Trust (BHT) set up by UnionCarbide Corporation. Preparations for transfer of the four RedCross clinics are also on. Ironically, one of the main factors impeding appropriate medical treatment at these
government clinics has been withholding of medical information by Carbide and the closure of the Red Cross clinics followed from
withdrawal of financial support by the
corporation. The source of funds of the BHT is the value of shares of Union Carbide that had been judicially attached to ensure that the representatives of the corporation face criminal charges related to the disaster. By means of interventions in the Supreme Court through the sole trustee of BHT, Sir Ian Percival (an attorney working for Union Carbide from 1984 to AE92) the corporation has been able to get the shares dis-attached and continues to abscond justice. In the last two years Percival has spent Rs. 7 crores on the construction of a 260- bed hospital ,which happens to be 8 kms away from the gas affected area, and Rs. 5 crores on his own fees, travel and office expenses. Quite clearly providing medical care to the survivors is not among the priorities of BHT. Its sole purpose is to build a humane image for the corporation while helping it to abscond criminal justice on the massacre. PercivalAEs plans of health care administration have been severely criticized by national and international professional groups including the IMCB. Among other misgivings, concerns have been expressed regarding transparency of activities at the proposed medical research centre to be set up by the BHT. PercivalAEs bonafide and his role in administering health care in Bhopal is being challenged in the Supreme Court by Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS), Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA) and Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog
Samiti(BGPSSS).
12. According to records from the office of the
Welfare Commissioner, Bhopal Gas Victims till October 14, 1997 in 3,18,657 cases, claimants were awarded an average compensation of Rs. 26,629 for personal injuries suffered as a result of the disaster. Between Rs.10 to 15 thousand have been routinely deducted from this compensation sum against interim monetary relief paid by the government. The remaining money does not half cover the medical expenses borne by the claimants in the last several years let alone provide for future expenses. About 30 % of injury claims have been rejected and there are well over 4,00,000 claimants whose cases remain to be decided. 3891 of the 15,168 death claims adjudicated have been rejected and an average sum of Rs 67,267 has been paid as compensation 11, 267 cases. While it is true that the paltry settlement money (US $ 470 million) paid by Union Carbide provides little scope for awarding adequate compensation sums, much injustice is being done by judges in the claims tribunals who knowledge on health consequences exposure to CarbideAEs gases is extremely limited. Damages caused to the mental health of the survivors are not considered compensable and children born to gas-exposed women found to be suffering from retarded physical and mental growthhave been given no right to claim compensation. Wrongful denial of compensation, corruption at all stages, delays and the tortuous procedure through which the persons have to establish their victimage, continue to make the whole business of
compensation an unending nightmare.
13. Despite the expenditure of over Rs. 60
crores from the public exchequer less than 100 persons have found gainful employment through official initiatives. There are an estimated 50 thousand people who have been so incapacitated due to their exposure to CarbideAEs gases that they can no longer pursue their usual jobs. 2300 gas affected women who lost their jobs in July 1992 due to the closure of the government run sewing centres remain unemployed. 86 women from severely affected communities employed in the production of office stationary have been fighting a legal battle for the last seven years for regularization of their jobs and for payment of salaries at par with government employees doing similar work. All but a few of the worksheds built under the government programme of economic rehabilitation remain closed. The state government, in an apparent attempt to disown its responsibilities towards the
rehabilitation of incapacitated survivors, had distributed the worksheds to 16 non government organizations who had undertaken to start income generating activities through employment of survivors within 90 days. More than a year has passed and only three of them have begun functioning so far. Of the 152 worksheds built in the Special Industrial Area, 52 are in possession of the Rapid Action Force and are being used as barracks by this paramilitary organization. These sheds built at a cost of Rs. 8 crores (US $ 2.3 million) were originally meant for exclusive employment of over 10,000 gas affected people in garments, food processing and electronic industries. Not one gas affected person has found employment in the Special Industrial Area so far. 200 gas-affected women have recently been selected for a 3-month training in production of jute handicrafts without any plans for enabling them to earn a livelihood after being trained. Earlier this year by the state government has announced plans to start colleges of Medicine and
Engineering for the rehabilitation of gas victims, 30 % of whom are illiterate and only 12 % have had secondary school education according to survey carried out by the ICMR.
14. On 15th October this year the Chief
Minister inaugurated a scheme for free milk distribution to 32,000 children in the severely affected communities. The scheme, based on a gift of 200 tonnes of milk powder by the European Economic Consortium (EEC) will however, last only for 45 days. A similar short term scheme was launched by the state government around the time of the 12th anniversary of the disaster when the EEC had gifted 300 tonnes of milk powder. Till date the government has no record of the social condition of the persons who have been widowed, orphaned, or have been permanently disabled as a result of the gas disaster. The state government has deemedits work of social rehabilitation to be over by constructing 1500 houses and a few schools. There has been no official attention towards the urgent need of life long pension for widows, orphans, chronically ill and disabled survivors and provision of nutritional supplements to children in gas affected families on a regular basis. The Supreme CourtAEs final order of October 3, 1991 with regard to provision of insurance coverage to about one lakh children likely to suffer delayed effects of the lethal gases is also being ignored by the Central government.
15. Safe drinking water, sanitation and a
healthy living environment remains inaccessible to majority of the gas victims despite the expenditure of over Rs. 80 crores by the government on environmental rehabilitation in the past years. Funds earmarked for provision of environmental rehabilitation in the gas affected area have been spent on building roads, street lighting and other constructions outside the gas affected area and there has been no improvement in the living environment of the gas affected communities. Communities in the vicinity of the Carbide factory continue to be exposed to toxic chemicals that are injurious to the lungs, liver and kidneys and can cause cancer. This is a result of routine dumping of hazardous chemicals during the operation of the factory by the management thus contaminating soil and
groundwater in and around the factory premises. Analysis carried out by the Citizens
Environmental Laboratory (CEL), Boston show presence of toxic chemicals in the community wells around the factory. A collaborative investigation by Arthur D. Little Inc. (retained by Union Carbide Corporation, USA) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur (retained by Union Carbide India Limited) has confirmed the findings of CEL and recommended a fuller investigation for better assessment of the environmental contamination. Meanwhile the company management has dug up bottom soil from the Solar Evaporation Ponds and buried the heavily contaminated sludge under three metres of farm soil in a bid to cover up evidence of environmental damage.
16. 23 members of Parliament from the Standing
Committee of Parliament on petroleum, chemicals and fertilisers including its Chairman Mr A R Antulay made a two- day visit to Bhopal on September 8 - 9 this year. The Committee visited the Union Carbide factory, two gas affected communities, two newly constructed hospital buildings, a handicraft training centre and a housing complex for gas affected families and presented its findings and opinions at a press conference. Mr. Antulay held the Union
government responsible for omessing upoe the criminal case against Union Carbide and for accepting a paltry settlement amount from the corporation. He was sharply critical about the failure of the Central and state governmentAEs failure to mitigate the suffering ofthe
survivors, the misuse of funds meant for relief and rehabilitation as well as the appointment of Sir Ian Percival to oversee health care
administration in Bhopal. Mr Antulay also expressed his displeasure at the refusal of the Plant Manager of Eveready Industries India Limited (new name of Union Carbide India Ltd.) to answer technical queries posed by members of the Committee. The Committee was flooded with petitions and complaints by survivors and their organizations. The Committee will be presenting a report of its visit before the national Parliament.
17. The signing of an extradition treaty
between the governments of India and USA on June 25 this year has had no impact on bringing Carbide to justice. The Indian government has yet to take the first step towards extradition of prime accused Warren Anderson former chairman of the Corporation and the other foreign accused ie representatives of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), USA and Union Carbide Eastern (UCE) , Hong Kong. It is more than five years since the Bhopal District Court issued non-bailable arrest warrant against Anderson. Absconding from trial, Anderson currently resides at 111, Catalina Ct. Vero Beach, Florida, USA. Mr I K Gujral, the present Prime Minister, as Minister of External Affairs in August 1996, had promised to take urgent steps on extradition of Anderson in a meeting with organizations campaigning for justice in Bhopal. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the prosecution agency has expressed its inability to move the government on the matter of extradition. After
deregistering UCE in 1992 Union Carbide now operates in Hong Kong through Union Carbide Asia Ltd. and Union Carbide Asia Pacific Inc.(UCAP) both wholly owned subsidiaries of the parent US based Corporation. Ramasami Natarajan the former CEO of UCE is now the President of UCAP, Hong Kong. In 1993 UCC, USA granted a non- interest bearing twenty year loan of 300 thousand US dollars to Natarajan. The CBI has expressed , in Court, its inability to proceed against UCE as it has no knowledge of how to proceed against an accused corporation that has been de-registered.
18. On August 29,1997, Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Bhopal Mr. A K Tiwari directed commencement of trial against Union Carbide India Limited and its officials including Keshub Mahindra (Chairman), Vijay Gokhale(Managing Director), Kishore Kamdar (Vice President), J. Mukund (Works Manager) and four others.
Following dilution of charges against these accused by the Supreme Court in September 1996 they currently face charges of causing death by negligence (Sec. 304A of the Indian Penal Code IPC, punishable by imprisonment up to 2 years or fine), endangering life (Section 336 of IPC, punishable by imprisonment up to 3 months or fine up to Rs 250), causing hurt by endangering life (Section 337 of IPC, punishable by
imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs 500) and causing grievous hurt by endangering life (Section 338 of IPC,punishable by
imprisonment up to 2 years or fine up to Rs 1000). Recording of evidence against these accused began on September 29, 1997. Three organizations - BGPMUS, BGIA and BGPSSS have been permitted by the Court to assist the prosecution during the trial under Section 301 (2) of the Criminal Procedures Code.
19. Except for the Methyl Isocyanate plant most
of the structures in the Union Carbide factory were dismantled and sold off by the management of Eveready Industries India Limited in May-June this year. Toxic chemicals stored in various tanks were let out during the dismantling operations leading to panic among the
neighbourhood population. Complaints made by BGPMUS and BGIA regarding destruction of vital evidence were made to the Chief Minister, the central Home Minister and the police without any results. The two organizations called for the conversion of the factory structure to a museum that preserved the memories of worldAEs worst industrial disaster for future generations.
20. In November this year the Human Rights
Commission, Madhya Pradesh registered a case of human rights violation against officials of the state government. This was in response to a complaint filed by BGPMUS and BGIA on violation of right to life of the survivors through denial of medical care and negligence in monitoring continued exposure related morbidity and mortality.
The concerned officials have been directed to submit a reply to the charges made by the two organizations by November 25, 1997. Meanwhile the state government has released Rs 3 lakhs for purchase of medicines and has directed the appointment of a few doctors and para-medical staff in the hospitals meant for gas affected people.
Produced by :
-------------
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan
51, Rajendra Nagar,
Bhopal 462 010, India
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
B-2/302, Sheetal Nagar, Berasia Road,
Bhopal, India
Return to: South Asia Citizens Web