Bhopal disaster caused by synergy of worst Indian, American cultures: Court

NEW DELHI - The Bhopal gas tragedy was caused by “the synergy of the very worst of American and Indian cultures”, the trial court noted while ordering preservation of judicial records to keep the case against absconding accused alive.

Former chairman of US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) Warren Anderson, UCC US and UCC Kowloon Hong Kong were declared absconders by the court which punished seven others June 7.

In his 95-page verdict, Bhopal’s Chief Judicial magistrate Mohan P. Tiwari slammed the UCC and said: “An American corporation cynically used a third world country to escape from the increasingly strict safety standards imposed at home.”

“Safety procedures were minimal and neither the American owners nor the local management seemed to regard them as necessary,” the court said, convicting seven accused guilty of criminal negligence in the world’s worst industrial disaster and sentenced them to two years jail. They were later released on bail.

Those sentenced included Keshub Mahindra, who then headed Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), from whose pesticide plant in Bhopal tonnes of lethal gas leaked Dec 2-3, 1984 night, killing thousands instantly and many more later.

The court kept the criminal case against Anderson and other absconders alive and said: “Warren Anderson, UCC USA and UCC Kowloon Hong Kong are still absconding and, therefore, every part of this case (Criminal File) is kept intact alongwith the exhibited and unexhibited documents and the property related to this case, in safe custody, till their appearance.”

“The tragedy was caused by the synergy of the very worst of American and Indian cultures,” Tiwari said.

Hitting out at the lack of any disaster mitigation plan at the time of the tragedy, the court also blamed the city administration’s callousness in dealing with the disaster.

“When the tragedy struck there was no disaster plan that could be set into action. Prompt action by local authorities could have saved many, if not most, of the victims. The immediate response was marred by callous indifference,” said Tiwari.

“Union Carbide should have had the self-realization to exercise the greatest care and take the precautions, when it was dealing with such lethal chemicals. It was the burden of local government also to play its supervisory and regulatory role with the utmost sincerity,” the court said.

“Both, UCIL and the government, however, utterly failed in doing so. Thousands of people are still suffering,” the court said.

While pointing towards the failure of both the government and the UCIL, the court gave a suggestion to enact an appropriate law on the lines of a British law to ensure safety of the workers and inhabitants living near factories.

“At the last I would like to suggest a separate Act to be legislated as it prevails in United Kingdom Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to make further provision for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work, for protecting others against risks to health or safety and for controlling the unlawful acquisition, possession and use of dangerous substances,” Tiwari said.

The court recommended a special safety law for industrial workers and those living close to a factory, after noting several violations of safety measures in the UCIL plant, which led to the disaster.

Quoting the findings of scientists of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which probed the gas leak from the factory, the court noted that the deadly methyl iso-cyanate (MIC) had to be stored in stainless steel tanks of good quality and using any other material was dangerous.

But the large quantity of MIC, more than what was required for regular production of pesticides, was stored in tanks made of simple or galvanized iron, which is not used for storage of such poisonous gases.

“The tanks storing MIC have to be, for the reasons of safety, twice the volume of the MIC to be stored. It was also advised by the UCC itself that an empty storage tank should also be kept available in standby position at all times for emergency transfer of MIC,” said the court, noting that even this safety regulation was ignored.

“MIC was also advised to be stored in the storage tanks under the nitrogen pressure of the order of 1 kg/cm2g and a specific temperature below 15 degrees Celsius was also required to be maintained. However in tank no.610 the MIC was stored under nearly atmospheric pressure,” the court said.