Truth behind Bhopal- part I

After the clumsy decision over Bhopal Gas Tragedy, in the past few days, newspapers and news channels have asked a question- “has the system failed us?” After writing yesterday’s article, I woke up in the middle of the night, and a question disturbed me- ‘who’ is this ‘system’? To find answers to it, I peeped into this chronology of events.

Soon after the disaster, in 1985, the Indian government filed a law-suit in a US court and claimed damages worth $3.3 billion. In 1989, the Indian Government, led by Rajiv Gandhi, settled with Union Carbide for $470 million- about one-seventh of what they originally claimed! Union Carbide’s share prices went up after this settlement. So the government’s decision not only put a cheap value to citizen’s lives lost, but also ensured that the stakeholders in the tragedy become richer!

That disaster just didn’t kill thousands of people then- 26 years have passed and it is still killing people. Generations have been affected- crippled, blinded and deafened! And what are we left with? A mysterious, faceless system to blame! Since this article may become too long if posted as one, I’ll present the second half of it tomorrow.