By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
New
Delhi, November 18 (IslamOnline) - Fresh evidence shows history’s
biggest industrial accident, killing 8,000 people and crippling
another 20,000, occurred because the management used cheaper
“unproven technology” at the pesticide making company, Union
Carbide, in Bhopal, the capital of central Indian state of Madhya
Pradesh 18 years ago.
Documents
obtained by Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA) show that
the company made “under investment” in its Sevin/MIC (Methyl
Isocynate) units which caused the tragedy at the American company
Union Carbide Corporation’s Indian subsidiary.
The
faulty technology and cost-cutting practices of Union Carbide led to
the accident in which 27 tons of lethal MIC gas leaked into the
atmosphere on December 2, 1984.
BGIA,
which represents the interests of the accident survivors, said last
week that the tragedy occurred because Union Carbide Corporation tried
to cut costs.
The
documents show that Carbide officials in the U.S. had decided to
reduce investment in its Sevin/MIC units in the Indian subsidiary from
$28 million to $20 million, thus opting for inferior, unproven
technology.
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Some
of the thousands of people stricken by gas leak
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One
of the reasons for cutting down on investment was Carbide’s desire
to retain majority stakes in the Indian subsidiary. A lower investment
level helped it bypass the Indian Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
(FERA) to this end.
BGIA
said Warren Anderson, then UCC chief and prime accused, was on the
committee which authorised investment cuts. The newly obtained
documents are crucial for extraditing and trying Anderson in India.
BGIA
leader Satinath Sarangi said pending criminal cases against Union
Carbide and Anderson should be upgraded from culpable homicide not
amounting to murder to mass murder with prior knowledge and intent.
Sarangi
said the documents showed how Anderson acted with reckless
indifference to human life in the design, location and safety
mechanisms of their Bhopal plant. On the contrary, the standards of
design and safety mechanisms were far superior in UCC’s West
Virginia plant which made the same product, he added.
The
Union Carbide Corporation was forced to give these documents to a New
York court in course of a class action suit filed by several gas leak
victims’ organisations.
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A
relative of a gas victim holding poster demanding arrest of
Anderson
|
Last
week victims’ organisations gave these documents to India’s
Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) to pursue the expedition of
Anderson, who was spotted by Greenpeace activists in the U.S.
recently. Reportedly he is lying low somewhere in New York.
The
document regarding reduced investment by the American company in its
Indian subsidiary is self-explanatory: “The comparative risk of poor
performance and the consequent need for further investment to correct
it is considerably higher in Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) operation
than it would be had proven technology been followed.”
Yet
the UCC decided to go in for the cheaper option. This is a classic
case of how Western companies ignore safety standards and public
health considerations in their Third World operations, but are quite
meticulous about them in their own countries.
