Five Past Midnight in Bhopal - The Aftermath and Today

In part 2 of this post, I intend to cover those aspects about the immediate fallout of the disaster, which have been mentioned in Lapierre's book, but which I feel can be enhanced through a more updated picture of the whole story. 
Warren Anderson's Role in the Entire Episode and His Whereabouts Today : Warren Anderson was the CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the disaster.  From Lapierre's book, we get a picture of an apparently compassionate person, who travels to Bhopal within days of the disaster, much against the advice of his family and colleagues (they fear adverse reactions from the public and legal authorities in Bhopal), just so that he can be in the midst of all the rescue efforts.  He actually landed in India, on the basis of a promise made by Indian authorities that he will not be criminally prosecuted upon his arrival in India.  But soon after his arrival, he was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police on charges of manslaughter, but was released on bail on 7th December 1984.  The bail amount was Rs. 25,000/- (note the irony here, the bail amount was the equivalent of USD 2000 at that time - was that the value of so many Indian peasants' lives lost that one night ?).  Soon after getting bail, he literally fled India by private jet, and has since refused to appear in court in India for this case.  He currently lives in the comfort of a pleasant retirement, 'somewhere in the New York area'.  Anderson's photographs below (one is a photo taken with him at the entrance of his residence very recently, and another one showing a younger CEO in his heyday). 

How culpable is Warren Anderson ?  Probably as the head of the organisation, he is.  But did he neglect his moral duty soon after the disaster...?  He did not.  A diffucult persona to be judged anyway.  

Legal Wrangling/Change of Corporate Ownership : After the disaster, UCIL was bought by Eveready Industries.  The plant never went into full fledged production after the tragedy, but its ownership changed several hands, first with a French company buying the agricultural products division of UCIL.  In the mean time, Union Carbide was bought over by another American giant - the Dow Chemical Company.  With such frequent changes in corporate identity, and an almost callous response from the Indian Political establishment, the legal battle to compensate victims' families entered a stalemate...

Dow Chemical Company's Online FAQ on the Bhopal Disaster : Dow Chemical Company's Official Stand on the tragedy is available on line, through a Bhopal Disaster FAQ page.  The page is full of diplomatic statements, which ultimately absolve them of any wrongdoing.  In my personal opinion, the Dow Chemical Company is an excellent example of an American Corporation whose only motive is profits, while displaying a complete lack of any morals and ethics whatsoever...
The links below are from Dow Chemical Company's website, which captures Dow's official stand on the whole accident :

• http://www.dow.com/commitments/debates/bhopal/index.htm
• http://www.bhopal.com/ucs.htm (this link takes us to the FAQ link)

The Bhopal Factory as it Stands Today, and its Impact on the Immediate Surroundings :The Bhopal factory today lies in a state of total neglect.  In fact, if we visit www.bhopal.org, we can actually see the run-down condition of the plant, where there are still stockpiles of chemicals used in pesticide production, lying uncared for, with no possibility of a cleanup in sight.  I was taken aback to read in that site that there are still huge quantities of solidified Carbaryl in the compound - all it needs is a lighted matchstick to actually set off another gas leak, much deadlier than the previous one.....


Most of the ingredients of pesticide production are inherently toxic, and there are huge stockpiles of these which still remain in the plant even today.  All these chemicals are well known carcinogens, which continue to pollute the ground water steadily, with each monsoon.  Statistical studies have shown an almost unbelievably high incidence of cancers, birth defects, heart and lung disorders amongst the population living around the now run down plant.  The deadly effects of the disaster have not stopped with the gas leak on that fateful night in 3rd December 1984 - the after effects of the disaster continue to kill, dismember, pollute and maim the people of Bhopal to this day....


Captured below are some of the photos I was able to get from on-line sources (including www.bhopal.org) which show the dilapidated condition of the Bhopal plant as it stands today...

Justice may never be rendered, because the Bhopal tragedy sounded Union Carbide's death knell.  Bhopal rendered a body blow to UC's reputation as an industrial giant with a carefully groomed corporate image centred around industrial safety and value of human lives.  The troubled giant was eventually purchased by the Dow Chemical Company, which turns out to be an even more sinister, monstrous corporate, which is totally bankrupt on moral and social values.  To this day, Dow has been evading legal proceedings in this case, making justice to the victims of the disaster more and more elusive.  The President of Dow Chemical Company, Frank Popoff, when asked what responsibility Dow takes for the disaster, soon after Union Carbide was taken over by Dow in 1999, replied : 
"It is not in my power to take responsibility for an event which happened fifteen years ago, with a product that we never developed, at a location where we never operated" 
The reply smacks of a complete lack of regard for human lives which were lost in the disaster.  Yes, Dow did not own UCIL at the time of the disaster.  But if Dow wants to own the assets of UC on account of taking over the company, it is but natural to expect that it also takes on the liability of compensating the victims who were killed by the same company it was taking over...
What Dow was saying essentially was this :
"Fuck-you, you brown skinned Indians.  Fuck-corporate social responsibility.  We want only profits" 
Rubbing salt on our Indians' wounds is the fact Dow Chemical company is trying to stage a comeback in India.  The only silver lining to the history of Bhopal's victims is that Dow Chemical Company's evil overtures in trying to come back into India have been thwarted successfully so far, by the support of environmental organisations like Greenpeace, and the undying campaigning of the children of Bhopal's survivors.  All the IITs in India have also joined hands to reject all  funding/sponsorships from Dow Chemical Company (there was even a Chemical Engineering conference in February 2009, conducted by IIT Delhi, for which Dow was the principal sponsor, which was cancelled just a day before the actual start date, drubbing Dow in a very fitting manner).  Likewise, permission for Dow Chemical Company to construct a Research & Development centre in a village called Chakal in Pune district has been withdrawn.  Dow Chemical Company was also gheraoed in Chennai, and the Tamil Nadu government has refused permission to construct another unit in the vicinity of Chennai.  Following links lead to a whole lot of information about the social campaigning around the Bhopal gas tragedy.

• www.bhopal.org and www.bhopal.net - These give a very heart-rending view of the whole tragedy, along with news items on how Dow is getting ostracised across India, where it has plans to re-enter.

• http://thetruthaboutdow.org - This is another website giving a lot of information about the sinister ways of Dow, and the activism initiated against it by organisations worldwide.

While my heart still weeps for the victims of Bhopal, I am happy to note that very slowly, but surely, Dow is having a thick stick shoved up its ass thanks to the joint effort of so many people.  This monster of a multinational must be brought down without mercy.  I say this not out of any desire to avenge Bhopal, but out of an intense desire to see justice rendered not just to the Bhopal victims, but also to so many other people who live near Dow's facilities worldwide, who live in the constant danger of poisoning not just themselves, but even their generations of offspring yet to come into this planet...
Bhopal, I still weep for you....but let's give Dow a hell it would have never seen...