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Too little, too late: Indian court sentences Bhopal accused to 2 years
photo by Joe Athialy (source: Flickr Creative Commons)
Over 25 years have past since the worst chemical disaster in history took place at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. The catastrophe killed 15,000 according to Indian government estimates. Activists and locals put the death toll much higher, not to mention the thousands left disabled by the disaster.
Today, a court in Bhopal convicted 8 Indian former Union Carbide employees of ‘death by negligence’. The convicted were sentenced to two years in prison – save one who died before the verdict – and the company fined a paltry 500,000 rupees ($10,000/€9,000) according to a report from Reuters.
Union Carbide settled with the Indian government for $470 million back in 1989, but it has taken 25 years for criminal proceedings to reach this verdict, a disappointment to both victims and activists.
From a report in the Christian Science Monitor:
The verdict may feel like too little, too late for rights groups who have been campaigning for more than two decades to get justice for the victims of the 1984 tragedy. Activists have said the charges in what is widely held to be the world’s worst industrial disaster have been diluted to what might be expected in “something like a traffic accident.”
According to health workers and campaigners, an additional 100,000 people who were exposed are still suffering from the effects of the accident and that the closed UC plant is still a health hazard.
Activists say thousands of tonnes of toxic waste have not been properly disposed of at the now derelict pesticide factory and seeps into the groundwater for local residents. The government denies the groundwater is contaminated.
–Reuters
US citizen Warren Anderson, the former head of Union Carbide Corp., was arrested in India and charged with manslaughter shortly after the disaster, but given bail. Anderson fled to the US, where he has remained since – successfully avoiding attempts at extradition by the Indian government.
by Graham Land
Additional resources:
IBN Live – Govt, Union Carbide made devil’s pact: activists
BBC World Service blog – Has Union Carbide got away with it?
Tags: activists, Anderson, Bhopal, convicted, court, disaster, government, Health, India, Indian, Union Carbide, US, verdict, victims
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