Bhopal citizens can sue for civil damages
|
COMMENTS 
Although disappointed by the first criminal verdict in the 1984 gas tragedy case, Bhopal’s citizens can file for civil damages at a new forum, the National Green Tribunal, soon to be headquartered in the city
The Indian government is trying to set up the first court of a National Green Tribunal that will be a network of dedicated courts for environment issues, in Bhopal, and citizens of the city are already thinking of filing for civil damages in the 1984 gas tragedy.
“I think there is a definite case for civil damages at the tribunal, for Bhopalis. They are still drinking contaminated water. They are still living in a toxic dump,” Rachna Dhingra, an activist with the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, said.
Earlier, saying he was “agonised” and “anguished” by the verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that the National Green Tribunal would be set up by the end of the year to ensure speedy relief to victims of such disasters.
“We need to fast-track our efforts for both the National Green Tribunal and the National Environment Protection Authority. This verdict makes clear that we need to put in place these systems quickly,” he said.
The tribunal is one of Ramesh’s pet projects, but he is cautious about Bhopal’s citizens seeking succour there. “I am not sure. That would be for the legal experts to decide,” the minister said.
Ramesh has been keen on basing the tribunal in Bhopal, in part because it would be “a very small tribute to the people who suffered there…” and “we must ensure that we never have another Bhopal.”
The tribunal came into existence with the relevant law passed in the last session of Parliament, and will become operational by this year-end. It will be headed by a retired chief justice and hear civil cases on environmental complaints.
“I want to fast-track this. The ministry is working towards bringing this to Parliament by August,” Ramesh said. “These courts will decide on civil matters relating to the environment. And I can assure you, these verdicts won’t take 20 years,” he added.
The minister also said that a report on cleaning up the contaminated site -- being conducted by the National Geophysical Research Institute, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute -- will be submitted by the end of this month.
Speaking about measures to deal with the ongoing consequences of the Bhopal disaster, he said: “We have about 325 tonnes of toxic waste still at the site waiting to be incinerated and disposed of. About 45 tonnes have been done (away with) so far.”
Ramesh said his ministry had started decontamination studies both on the structure as well as at the site. “What I can assure people is that we will be strict without fear and favour in implementing the Act so that future Bhopals don’t occur,” Ramesh said.
“In fact, for historical reasons, the environment ministry is not the coordinating agency for the Bhopal gas tragedy in government. It is the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals which is the nodal agency. We only provide the inputs,” he said.
A court in Bhopal recently held Union Carbide India Ltd and eight of its officials guilty of criminal negligence in the world’s worst industrial disaster, and sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment. One of them died during the course of the trial; the other seven were later released on bail.
Tonnes of lethal gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984, killing around 3,500 people instantly and thousands later.
The verdict has been making headlines across the world and angry reactions are coming in from everywhere. Many see this as a case not just of justice delayed but also justice not delivered. And overwhelmingly, the international media holds the Indian government and judiciary responsible for the travesty.
After the judgment, The Times, London said: “Nor has the US emerged with great honour blocking India’s requests to extradite Warren Anderson, the elderly former chairman of the Indian subsidiary, leaving the prosecution with only local managers to pursue. But the greatest censure should fall on the Indian government itself.”
In the US too, the Indian legal system came in for the most criticism. The New York Times said Indian courts are notoriously slow. The Times online went a step further, claiming the Bhopal verdict shows that the wealthy can outwit India’s judiciary. “It would be extraordinary for something like this to happen in the United States. There is a firm conviction here that justice delayed is justice denied. Regardless of the merits of any decision, you have to decide it quickly enough so that the decision has consequences,” said Professor Douglas Baird of the University of Chicago Law School.
At a time when Americans are asking who will be held accountable for the Gulf Coast oil spill, the outcome of the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict touches a chord in the US. Apart from the predictable critique of the Indian legal system, the American press has also reported on the issue of the Nuclear Liability Bill, under discussion in Parliament, which envisages capping a foreign company’s liability in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant.
The world over, environmental groups too are united in dismay over the verdict that gave the minimum sentence of two years to local factory managers but couldn’t bring to book the big fish, like Anderson.
This, even while disastrous health effects of the methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas that leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal continue to unfold a quarter of a century later. The health impacts range from stunted growth to cleft lips among children born to gas-affected parents and, in some cases, in the third generation as well.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) followed up over 80,000 people exposed to the gas, from 1985 to 1994, but published its first report only in November 2004. After survivors approached the judiciary demanding medical follow-up, the council last year decided to re-start research work in Bhopal. But its call for research proposals has received only lukewarm response.
More than half-a-million people were exposed to MIC, and around 1.2 lakh continue to suffer from chronic respiratory, ophthalmic, reproductive, endocrine, gastrointestinal, musculo-skeletal, neurological, and mental disorders.
Source: The Hindu, June 9, 2010
http://www.ndtv.com, June 2010
http://indiatoday.in, June 2010
http://www.hindustantimes.com, June 2010