Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Who is going to pay for Bhopal Gas victims?

After GoM recommendations, I was thinking how government is going to generate such a huge amount of funds for Bhopal Gas victims. The recommendations, according to reports, are: Compensation to the tune of Rs 10 lakh for the families of those killed in this crime; Rs 5 lakh for those crippled for life; and Rs 3 lakh for people with partial disability. On the issue of cleaning up tones of toxic waste buried at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, the GoM is believed to have recommended that the Madhya Pradesh government would do the dirty job with financial help from the Centre. And on the issue of Warren Anderson, the group has decided to make a "valiant attempt" to get the criminal-in-chief extradited from US to India.

I feel, the judgment was shameful and now GoM recommendations are seriously shocking. The Government of India is planning to spend Rs.1500 crore for compensation to Bhopal victims. How they are going to raise this money? The answer is simple; this money will be taken from - the Indian taxpayer’s pocket. Government is simply robbing one common man to compensate another common man.

GoM has given a clean chit to Dow Chemicals. They don’t have to pay any money to the victims of the world’s worst ever industrial accident, which happened because the Union Carbide dumped outdated technology in the heart of Bhopal, paid no attention to its maintenance, ignored warnings about gas leakage, cut funds and staff at the cost of safety and gave itself a clean chit even as bodies of poor Indians were piling up at the cremations grounds and graveyards of Bhopal in December 1984.

I am not able to find answers for following question and would appreciate if anyone can help me in finding answer for any of my question:
What is the cost of life of a poor common Indian men?
Why Madhya Pradesh government would do the dirty job with financial help from the Centre? As per polluter pay principle , recognized by both US and India, the party responsible for producing pollution is responsible for paying for the damage done to the natural environment.
Why common Indian men would pay for the crime done by an American corporation?

GoM commendation completely violates polluter pay principle. The Union Carbide Corporation and Dow Chemicals have been freed of all the liability. The financial burden has been dumped on the poor Indian taxpayer.

Bhopal case is not just about compensation and money. Its also about justice. This is a slap on the face of all those people who have been fighting for justice for Bhopal for the past 26 years. It’s an insult to the memory of those who lost their lives in this crime. It’s also an insult to those poor people who have knocked at the doors of the government, judiciary and big corporations in order to get justice. It’s a challenge to those who still believe in the idea of India despite the travesty of justice in this country everyday.

I don’t want to pay to Bhopal victims from my pocket. I refuse to accept the government's squandering of public money as private funds.

Note: Some of the data is taken from the web. The views expressed here are mine alone with no intensions to hurt anyone. Feel free to share your views.

2 comments:

  1. ''Government is simply robbing one common man to compensate another common man.'' the best line of this article i think, government is not going to generate any fund for the victims actually,bcs govt. knows that our judiciary is how much complicated...and also justice delayed is justice denied, i don't think the victims of kand would find the justice...thanks for raise the issue of govt diplomacy to cheat the common men

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  2. nothing is gonna happen...xtradition will linger...cleaning of site will b lk a ball from state court to center court...n last bt nt the least comman man money...wll b galloped by our hungry wolves(politicians).

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