WAITING FOR JUSTICE

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh aptly echoed the nation's sentiment when he said last week that the survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy that occurred 25 years ago deserved adequate compensation. Unfortunately, this is one area where successive governments have failed to keep their promise. Though the Centre justifiably appropriated the gas victims' right to legal defence under the doctrine of "the state as a parent", it failed to prove that the Union Carbide plant's faulty safety systems caused the horrendous incident that claimed over 20,000 lives. The Centre did little to bring Carbide's former chairman Warren Anderson and other directors to book for criminal liability. The nation watched the shocking spectacle of Anderson getting bail from a Bhopal court soon after his arrest on December 7, 1984 and his flying back by a state government plane to New Delhi from where he managed to leave the country.

 

The compensation awarded by the Supreme Court in 1989 — $470 million — was not only unfair and inadequate but also diluted the Union Carbide plant's civil liability. NGOs like the Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti have been running from pillar to post for adequate compensation but without success. They first approached the apex court, then the state government, the Madhya Pradesh High Court and now the apex court again.

 

There is a need to make a realistic assessment of the tragedy and sanction suitable compensation to the victims and survivors. The focus should be on the severity of the damage caused to the people's health. Sadly, even after 25 years of the accident, illnesses like tuberculosis, cancer and blindness continue to plague survivors. Latest studies show how the water, air and land in the plant vicinity continued to be polluted, having an adverse effect on those living there. The extent of the damage looks far wider. What would a victim do with a compensation of just Rs 25,000 which is not enough even to repay one's debts? The government should understand the gravity of the situation and act accordingly. Clearly, justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done.