The night of December 2, 1984 is when Bhopal the capital of the state of Madhya
Pradesh, India discovered the numbing truth of the bottom line. December 3, 1984 the
world was introduced to Bhopal, India, the site of the world’s largest industrial accident.
Barbarism to Civilization is what was promised; the company motto was “Living.
Improved daily” and 20,000 people died for it, this is the story of Bhopal.

Nascent globalization allowed transnational corporations to flourish operating under relaxed trade rules. Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) was the glamorized transnational conglomerate of the early globalization movement. Established in 1969 Union Carbide was a chemical company operating 14 facilities around the globe, Bhopal was one of the 14. However, grossly lower standards were employed in constructing the monitoring and safety systems of Carbide’s Bhopal plant. Neglect and frugality define UCC’s Bhopal operations; between 1980-84 the work crew at the plant was trimmed from 12 to 6 similarly the maintenance crew was shrunk from 6 to 2. A plant operator was killed on December 20, 1981 by a phosgene gas leak shortly thereafter 28 workers were severely injured in another leak. Senior stakeholders of Carbide conducted a safety audit in the May of 1982 revealing 61 potential hazards, 30 of which were designated as “major”. Procedures were undertaken to ameliorate hazards at Carbide’s identical West Virginia plant but not at Bhopal (THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL, http://www.bhopal.net/index.php). Early warning signs were met with apathy and intransigence motivated by desires for revenue optimization.

The tragic events of December 2, 1984 were precipitated by a colossal failure at the Bhopal plant. Water had entered the tank containing the gases through leaking valves, the tank should have been kept at zero centigrade by the refrigeration unit but the unit was shut off in a cost curbing measure. An operating refrigeration unit may have prevented the tragedy altogether by freezing the water instead the water mixed with the gases creating a runaway reaction resulting in the fatal gas mixture. Carbide’s contingency safety system was non-operational and under repair on the night of the leak. Irrespective of UCC’s incompetence, the safety system was ill prepared for a runaway scenario like that of which occurred on that night (THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL).

Most experts have concluded the leak began at 11:00 PM., a worker set off the alarm nearly 2 hours later at 12:50 AM. and shockingly management turned off the alarm minutes later. Incredibly the public alarm was not set off until two in the morning by then 40 tons of methyl isocyanate (poisonous gases) leaked engulfing a 20 square kilometer area (In Memory of Bhopal, Binu Mathew, Z Magazine, January, 2002). In the process the simple lives of locals in the slums neighbouring Union Carbide were forever complicated.

In the immediate aftermath 8,000 people perished, two decades later the body count has eclipsed the 20,000 mark. Additionally, 10-15 people die monthly from exposure related diseases still today. Estimates approximate that 120,000 people suffer from multifarious exposure related complications. Two chief concerns were paramount in treating the unexpected health crisis in Bhopal, damage to the respiratory system and the conundrums surrounding reproduction. Pulmonary Tuberculosis which debilitates the respiratory system was found at three times the national average. Commonly survivors complain of “breathlessness, coughing and chest pains”. Moreover, the stillbirth rate was three times, prenatal mortality was two times and neonatal mortality was one and half times the national averages. A study conducted by Dr. Daya Varma of McGill University disclosed that 40% of the women pregnant at the time of the disaster aborted. Furthermore, physical and mental handicapped infants were an ubiquitous sight in the post disaster era. Compounding the sudden health crisis was Union Carbide’s blatant evasion from divulging the composition of the lethal gases. Befuddled doctors treating the victims were instructed by UCC medical personnel “it is only like tear gas, just wash with water”. Likewise, Max Daunder, a German toxicologist discovered that intravenous sodium thiosulphate injections were successful in detoxifying exposed individuals and limiting repercussions. Nonetheless, widespread implementation of Daunder’s findings were subverted by UCC. Administering such treatment is a tacit admission that the toxins reached the blood stream cultivating more acute symptoms than tear gas. However, researchers warn the future appears bleaker with the finding of chromosomal aberrations in the blood stream leading to congenital impairment in the succeeding generations (In Memory of Bhopal, Binu Mathew). Congenial heartache is the karma for the people Bhopal perpetuating the horrors of a disaster from generation to generation.

Rarely in the study of Bhopal are the idiosyncratic features of social stigma circumscribed to survivors evaluated alongside the tangible health concerns. Over 70% of the survivors belong to the unorganized sector of the economy typically engaging in subsistence farming. After the disaster the intensity of pollution rendered most land unfertile for farming. Indicative of this is the pervasive water pollution surrounding the factory; experts have declared that seven chemicals all carcinogenic have entered the water. Many members of this sizable majority have been relegated to destitute poverty fleeing to the cities where they are social isolated for the mere countenance of deformity. In addition, women and children have been estranged by their husbands in favour of a woman who has the capacity to reproduce. Meanwhile, younger women encounter arrange marriage discrimination, as female fertility is desired in a potential spouse, not being fertile is socially admonished. Moreover, a disconcerting trend is the emergence of a clandestine network of unaccredited doctors seeking to profit over an international tragedy. In fact, 70% of the doctors practicing in Bhopal are unlicensed and certainly unqualified particularly in a disease ridden hotspot (THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL). The presence of these bottom-feeders is symptomatic of poorly regulated third world nation attempting to address a crisis. Bhopal is occupied by India’s undesirables living in quiet desperation forced to dispense their humanity to the highest bidder.

An amorphous group of claims makers have fragmented the public discourse on Bhopal. There exist three discernable claims makers, victims, the Union Carbide Corporation and the Government of India. All three have Balkanizing initiatives, which have defined the contested discourse on Bhopal, and all three have cleavages within their own camp particularly the victims. Compensation clearly fragmentized victims into several camps often conflicting with one another for recognition. Officially the Government of India acting unilaterally without the consent of victims acting as kin sought $3.3 billion (US dollars) in restitution. The class action lawsuit never went to trial as the government settled out of court a year later in 1989 for $470 million. Coincidentally on the day of the settlement UCC stock went up two dollars. An inadequate sum was paid out especially when the Bhopal settlement is juxtaposed to the $4.2 billion paid out to the 650,000 claimants for potential damages from silicone breast implants by UCC and eight other companies. Following the paltry settlement victims claimed the compensation was maldistributed. Families of the dead were reciprocated $1250 while permanent illness ridden victims received between $400 and $500. Victims who wanted to circumvent the lunatic negotiated settlement and get fairly compensated had to file personal injury claims to collect their just damages. The divisive nature of this condition separated the middle class of the peripheral elite neighbourhoods and the locals in the vicinity of the factory (Bhopal on Less than $40 a day, Romi Mahajan, August 25, 2002). Only the middle class had the financial wherewithal to pursue legal litigation while legal reprisals were non-existent for locals.

Provoked by utter indignation, courageous locals working symbiotically with high profiled activists have attempted to redress the pertinent issues. Activists like Tara Boi ,Rashida Bi (both survivors) and Sathyu Sarangi have been publicly acclaimed for their tireless work. Hunger strikes reminiscent of Gandhi’s campaign of passive resistance have been the most popular methods in soliciting public support. Additionally, popular culture with an extensive literature on the issue, movies as well as plays have galvanized public sentiment for the victims. Victim organizations have comprehensive goals, which seek to restore the humanity Bhopal lost on the night of December 2, 1984.

The overriding principle of the victim affinity groups is the demand to extradite Warren Anderson former CEO of Union Carbide back to India to face charges of culpable homicide in an Indian court. Anderson’s trial would present an opportunity to present the truth, the unsanitized truth of Bhopal. Warren Anderson’s trial is not a morbid attempt at revenge to see Anderson last days spent incarcerated, rather it’s a hope that responsibility will finally be accepted. Moreover, cleaning up the contaminated soil and groundwater in the surrounding area of the factory is another imperative for reconciliation. Farmers have been rendered useless and the water is too contaminated to drink so a substantive clean up is key to Bhopal’s revitalization. Although, withstanding the relentless efforts of the activists, irreversible damage has been perpetrated on Bhopal’s ecology. In addition, disclosing the composition of the leaked gases is another request so that doctors can apply specific treatment to the survivors. Taking the guesswork out of the treatment administered will ease the plight of survivors exponentially. Finally, a call for just and fair monetary compensation is promoted to help rectify the economic, psychological and health losses (Bhopal on Less than $40 a day, Romi Mahajan). Natural rights intrinsic to humanity motivate local claims makers. In their pursuit of indispensable rights they have politicized themselves into legitimate political entities, pursued economic sustainability and internationalized their cause.

In January of 1992 the widely read Washington Post called for the extradition of Warren Anderson to India to face the charges against him. Also, Greenpeace memorialized the fifteenth anniversary of Bhopal declaring it a “Global Toxic Hotspot” (In Memory of Bhopal, Binu Mathew). Ordinary people did extraordinary things in proliferating the message of Bhopal while working alongside global actors in the process. Bhopal is endemic of much larger problem, a metaphor of what happens to people when transnational corporations are permitted to set up shop without restraints.

February of 2001 marked a dramatic setback to Bhopal’s healing process with Union Carbide Corporation merging with Dow Chemicals instantaneously becoming the world’s second largest chemical company. Dow Chemicals claim they have divested themselves of the Carbide’s legal liabilities in the merger; UCC is no longer a legal entity. However, UCC have long evaded responsibility for their reckless actions resulting in homicidal implications. Soon after the disaster, Carbide moved quickly to mitigate their damages. First, pertinent information was withheld about the composition of the gases then they propagated the preposterous mythology that the leaked gases were only as potent as “tear gas”. Next, medical experts arrived within a week of the disaster sponsored by Carbide ostensibly to evaluate the prognosis of the victims. Included in the Carbide’s medical team were Brian Ballyentine, a toxicologist for the Pentagon and Dr. Hans Weil, professor at Tulane University who had been reprimanded numerous times for falsifying reports. The medical team were nothing more than mercenaries who spuriously concluded the victims to “have an encouraging prognosis and most will fully recover” (In Memory of Bhopal, Binu Mathew).

Technocrats were introduced by Carbide to rationalize the social, political, economic and human wreckage resulting from what was viewed as a technical glitch. However, negligence was the primary contributor to the gas leak; UCC officials disregarded the early warning signs and concealed potential catastrophic hazards from the public. Moreover, Union Carbide took in annual revenue of eight billion during the 1989 fiscal year, the year of the settlement. Two hundred million of the settlement was by paid via insurance, another two hundred million was paid by a contingency fund set aside for such a circumstance. Therefore, it only cost seventy million to close the books on Bhopal (In Memory of Bhopal, Binu Mathew). Union Carbide dehumanized Bhopal long before the disaster, UCC setup shop in Bhopal exclusively for profit. Bhopal was viewed strictly on economic terms after the settlement Carbide forgot, silenced and omitted their tragic participation.

The guardian’s of India, the Government of India are the most outrageous culprits in the tragedy. They failed miserably choosing cowardice over action in preventing, managing and resolving the disaster. Economies throughout the world have been overcome by a “race to the bottom”, reducing cost, lowering currencies to make exports more advantageous and a contemptuous view of regulation (Bhopal on Less than $40 a Day, Romi Mahajan).

India “liberalized” its economy in 1991 selling off its sovereignty to transnational and racing to the bottom in the process. More substantively liberalization entails, deregulation, privatization essentially making a country fit for foreign investment. Unfettered capitalism is the result, capitalism without rules or guidelines. Western governments, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and transnational corporations operate India and her third world counterparts as their own fiefdom. The Indian Government has accommodated their new colonial masters by granting a host of concessions. In the case of Bhopal, charges against Dow Chemical were diluted to simple “negligence” in other words dismissed. Also, charges to coerce UCC to clean up the wasteland in the vicinity of the factory were ruled in the favour of Carbide. Moreover, the impetus of this disaster is this notion of costcutting embraced by corporations and facilitated by deregulation. The aforementioned shutdown of the refrigeration unit was done to save $40 a day, the tragedy may have been avoided altogether if Carbide chose to invest a mere forty dollars a day. Incidentally, Dow Chemical stock is valued at forty dollars. Furthermore, liberalization is synthetically packaged and sold as a ticket to modernity. UCC’s motto is “Living. Improved daily” insinuating the wealth created by the presence of the plant and the services provided improves quality of life (Bhopal on Less than $40 a Day, Romi Mahajan). The government of India and her co-conspirator Union Carbide sold the dream that turned out to be a protracted nightmare.

The worst industrial accident in history had no winner’s just losers and bigger losers. Recalcitrant victims spread their struggle internationally but tangibly little was done to ameliorate their grievances. Dow Chemical successfully divested themselves of legal liability but they will forever be linked to their nefarious actions in India. The encouraging news is that activists hoping to prevent another Bhopal fastidiously scrutinize the activities of Dow Chemical and other transnational corporations. Finally, the government of India accomplished two separate goals; they negotiated a settlement displaying a lukewarm interest for their citizens then ushering in a liberalized India years later. A declining sovereignty was the price paid by the government and the loss of legitimacy at the micro level amongst the victims.

Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh was sacrificed for modernization. Twenty thousand people died, thousands were diseased, hundreds of thousands were deemed useless and congenial malformations will forever haunt future generations of Bhopal. Union Carbide’s promise of “Living. Improved daily” destroyed lives and regressed a city back to the stone age.
REFERENCES

THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL, http://www.bhopal.net/index.php

In Memory of Bhopal, Binu Mathew, Z Magazine, January, 2002, http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/jan02matthew.htm

[ 17 December 2003: Message edited by: Deception ]