A Rs 1,300- crocre bill for an enhanced compensation package for Bhopal gas victims will be picked up by you for now and not Dow Chemicals, the owners of Union Carbide. The new package was recommended by the group of ministers (GoM) on the 1984 disaster.
The government will also take up the cleaning of Union Carbide's factory site and the surrounding areas in Bhopal at its own cost, which could be up to Rs 300 crore. This amount too will be picked up by the Indian taxpayer.
However, a GoM member, who did not wish to be named, said, "We will pay the compensation money right away from the taxpayers' kitty. But we will pursue a curative petition (in the Supreme Court against the earlier settlement in the case) against Dow Chemicals and pin the responsibility on them."
For Dow Chemicals to pay the money, the petition has to be admitted by the Supreme Court. The government, for its part, will have to vigorously pursue the case for a higher claim against the MNC.
Opposition parties are sceptical about this, saying the prospect of foreign investment could inhibit the government. The GoM member said, "We have arrived at a figure of Rs 1,300 crore. It really should not be more than that.''
The break-up, according to road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath, also a GoM member, is that those who died in the gas leak will get Rs 10 lakh each, those permanently disabled Rs 5 lakh, those with minor injuries Rs 1 lakh and victims suffering cancer and renal failure Rs 2 lakh. Sources said the government's calculation on the compensation amount is flawed.
Activists in Bhopal put the number of dead at over 15,000, while the government is sticking to a figure of nearly 6,000. The Madhya Pradesh government had sought a Rs 5,000 crore compensation package.
State minister Babulal Gaur, who is on the GoM, is said to have placed this demand before the Union ministers, but it was set aside. But, there is no move from the GoM to do another survey for a fresh count of the victims. Abdul Jabbar Khan, an activist working with the gas victims, said: "All figures with the government on the number of victims is from the then Madhya Pradesh government, which fixed the numbers based on what Union Carbide wanted." An Indian Council of Medical Research survey put the number of gas affected at 6 lakh. Meanwhile, the results of a survey by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 1987 were seized by the Madhya Pradesh government and are still frozen.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress of trying to protect the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as well as Dow Chemicals. He said the present BJP government in Madhya Pradesh would do a fresh survey to get the actual figures. "We want a new survey. The GoM is in a tearing hurry to take decisions to keep Rajiv Gandhi's name out," he claimed.
The CPM's Nilotpal Basu said, "We want an independent inquiry into all aspects of the Bhopal case before any decision is taken." In February 1989, the Supreme Court fixed the compensation for Bhopal victims at $ 470 million.
This was paid by Union Carbide in February. N. D. Jayaprakash of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Samiti said all the recommendations of the GoM should be placed before an all- party meeting before any decisions are taken.
Even as the GoM cleared the proposal for the clean- up of the toxic site, questions are being asked whether the government decision to fund the clean- up absolves Dow Chemicals of any liability - precisely the demand made by the latter.
Various NGOs and the activists campaigning for Bhopal gas victims have been demanding that Dow Chemicals be held responsible for the remediation process at the site and pay up. The Madhya Pradesh High Court is hearing a case of who should pay for cleaning the toxic site at the now defunct plant.
Dow had always insisted that liability, if any, is of Union Carbide and no liability rests with it - Carbide was taken over by Dow in 1999.
M AIL T ODAY accessed the documents containing letters exchanged between Dow and ministers on setting up a fund to clear the toxic waste following the gas leak.
In 2006, Dow's boss Andrew Liveris had written to Ronen Sen, India's Ambassador to the US, asking for withdrawal of a court application seeking a Rs 100 crore deposit for the clean- up.
According to his letter, "certainly a withdrawal of application would be positive, tangible demonstration that the GOI (government of India) means what it says about Dow's lack of responsibility in the matter. It follows logically from the GOI statements regarding the nonliability of Dow that the ministry of chemical and fertiliser should now withdraw its application for a financial deposit against the remediation costs." Even the external affairs ministry in its note titled Issues emerging from Indo- US CEO's meet, wrote: " Dow Chemicals is set to make large investments in India but have run into difficulties because of potential legal liabilities arising from the fact that it purchased Union Carbide Limited long after the Bhopal Disaster and after all civil claims were settled as per the Supreme Court decision." The note further added, "The issue is obviously complex and have implications for investors' generally. There is also a case for speeding implantation of a site remediation plan. Since delaying this matter only perpetuates concerns."
Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com
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