Ghost of Bhopal tragedy resurrected?

The ghost of the Bhopal gas tragedy which is characterized as one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophes is in the news once again.

The tragedy occurred onDec 2-3, 1984. The case was filed in the Court of original jurisdiction after a long gap. The parties were aligned against Sec 304 A Part II which charges a person of having caused culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which fetches a maximum sentence of 10 years in Jail under rigorous imprisonment. The CEO of the Company escaped Indian Law! The Company filed an appeal to Madhya Pradesh High Court with a plea that charges under 304 A Part II be dropped instead, they be tried under Sec 304 A of IPC . The High Court rightfully dismissed the case, which was contested by the Company in the Supreme Court before justice Ahamedi’s (Chief Justice) First bench. The Supreme Court diluted the Section of 304 A Part II (IPC) to 304 A which meant that if the culpability was proved, the maximum sentence under the Section was 2 years RI. The Case was reverted to the trial Court, and after 24 glorious years, the trial Court found all the accused guilty and sentenced them to 2 years in prison.

There was a huge public outrage. Jurists and Advocates, Political parties, Environmentalists, cried foul. Channels 24x7 beamed the sad story of Bhopal tragedy. There was pandemonium everywhere. Justice is inadequate screamed civil society.

CBI forced by the pro active lobby, went to Supreme Court with a curative petition. It asked the Hon’ble Court to review 1996 verdict and restore the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (IPC Sec 304 Part II) against 7 person and make them stand trial once again. It is in the rarest of the rarest cases that the Supreme Court admits a curative petition. It is the last resort against its own judgment. The petition is admitted if their Lordships found that there were reasonable evidences to show that the earlier judgment of the apex Court caused grave miscarriage of Justice.

We had Courts re-opening Cases where the trial Court had already given its judgment in the Jessica Lal Case even though all the witnesses had turned hostile during the trial and the High Court based the case on circumstantial evidence and jailed powerful politicians’ kith and kin. In the DIG Rathod case (Ruchika molestation case) also, the higher Court intervened, as a result, Rathod went to prison.

Even though the Supreme Court had admitted the Case and is sure to order a re-trial on the basis of stringent provision of Laws, one point is conviently forgotten. Though the punishable should be punished, the people who are affected by deep injuries, scar, minor injuries, and those orphaned by the death of near and dear ones, must be given adequate and reasonable compensation.. This is the missing link in the whole story. The estimated death is 15,000 even though there are other figures of death as well. 558,125 injured, 38,378 (temporary and partial injuries), 3900 severely and permanently disabled. When we are running providing inclusive growth in the rural areas, these hapless people who are punished for no fault of theirs, need solarium.

Now coming back to the ownership of the Union Carbide India Ltd, 49.1% of the shares are held by government controlled public banks and Indian public. What about public money invested in the Company? The Factory inspectors did they conduct any inspection, before or after the catostrophe? Any adverse action came to their notice? Has the Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board ever visit the factory? Did he find anything amiss? Where is the safety log book- any noting there?

It may be recalled that the factory was set up in 1969. The company was producing pesticides (Sevin) using menthyl isocyanate as an intermediate.MC(Menthyl Iso Cyanite) was stored in large tanks within the factory. On Dec2/3, water entered the tank containing 42 tonnes of MIC resulting in exothermic reaction, increased the pressure inside the tank to 200 degrees C (392 Degrees F). It is the contention of the Company that workers were cleaning out a clogged pipe with water about 400 feet from the tank. The tank vented releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere. The gases were blown by northwesterly winds over Bhopal.

Indian Industry seldom allots budgetary funds for safety procedures. How many Fire extinguishers are in use in the Indian factories today? Undersized safety devices dependence is solely thrust on manual operations; priming safety management is an austerity measure, insufficient maintenance, and finally inadequate emergency action plans. Authorities should design Disaster plans/ disaster management Schemes. Storing MC in large tanks beyond recommended levels should never have happened; Poor maintenance after the Plant ceased MIC production at the end of 1984, though used for hardly 4 years is likely to cause post-closure problems. In Bhopal, they had one manual back up system compared to 4 stage systems working in the United States. Safety systems were switched off to save energy costs. The MIC tank refrigeration system would have mitigated the disaster severely had the temperature of 4.5 degree Celsius maintained in the MIC tank against 20 degree Celicus.

The CSIR and CBI did not do mock tests to find out whether leakage of water to MIC tank would cause severe exothermic reaction. There is speculation that the trial test done by these agencies proved otherwise. After the sealing of the factory no maintenance was ever done as a result chemicals continue to leak and pollute ground water. The meandering slums, short comings in health care, and socio economic rehabilitation was conspicuous by its absence.

Without connecting the commissioning of the crime to deliberate inherent weaknesses and without caring for the need to rehabilitate the hapless victims by responding to their financial needs, and concentrating exclusively on punishing the guilty alone, would serve little purpose. The want of the hour is solace and philanthropy and not lip sympathy?