The Hindu : A city still gasping for breath

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 03, 2002

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A city still gasping for breath

By Lalit Shastri

An employee of the Medico Legal Institute, Bhopal, cleaning the photographs of the Bhopal gas victims on Monday on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the tragedy. — Photo: A.M. Faruqui

BHOPAL DEC. 2. Eighteen years after the Union Carbide gas disaster, Bhopal continues to gasp for breath as the authorities have apparently paid only a lip service when it comes to providing a clean and healthy environment for the thousands of citizens who inhaled the poisonous gas that leaked into the atmosphere on the midnight of December 2 and 3, 1984, and suffered irreversible lung damage.

Three years ago, volunteers of Greenpeace, along with representatives of the Bhopal communities, visited the Carbide plant and assessed the conditions at the factory site and its surrounding areas. They found stockpiles of toxic pesticides and hazardous waste scattered all around. And there has been no improvement in the situation even today.

The survey revealed contamination of land and ground water supplied as drinking water to inhabitants near the abandoned plant with heavy metal and chlorinated chemicals. Samples of water collected from wells showed high levels of chlorinated chemicals, including chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. The solid samples also showed contamination by lead, nickel, copper, chromium, chlorobenzene, Sevin and hexachlorocyclohexane.

The survey concluded that "the overall contamination of the site and its surrounding areas was caused by routine spills and leakage of chemicals and poisonous gases during the operation of the plant and continuous release of chemicals from the toxic waste lying scattered at the site".

Recently, Greenpeace sought to build up public opinion against the multinational Dow Chemical, which bought the Carbide assets along with its liabilities. It demanded that Dow clean up the toxic wastes around the plant. While the MNC's legal responsibility is being tested in the U.S. courts, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, has gone on record saying that the State Government was contemplating legal action and fixing responsibility for cleaning up the area. While the weaker sections of society living near the plant continue with their battle for safe drinking water, the civic authorities do not seem inclined to provide a clean environment. The situation is particularly dismal in the old city where most of the residents, affected by the gas leak, tend to fall sick more often and find their working capacity greatly reduced. This has had a crippling impact on the lives of thousands of daily-wage labourers.

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation's urban waste removal system, backed with funds meant for "gas relief", hardly appears to be serving its purpose, as overflowing garbage bins are a common sight in every residential and commercial area.

When a senior bureaucrat was approached for comments, he said: "During the Ninth Five Year Plan period, 1997-2002, the thrust of the State-run Environmental Planning and Coordination Organisation, set up in 1981, was to create environmental awareness among the people and identify and solve major environmental problems, and coordinate the activities of Government and semi-Government agencies. Bhopal also happens to be the headquarters of the Housing and Environment department and the Local Self-Government. But, despite all the paraphernalia, it seems there has been total abdication of responsibility in finding solutions to civic problems through a sound interdisciplinary approach between these various arms of the State Government. If there had been some semblance of commitment, a proper sewage system would have been in place in most parts of Bhopal, our street corners would not have been littered with garbage and the backyards of the city hospitals and nursing homes would not have been allowed to become a dumping ground for hospital waste".

The citizens are also concerned about lack of proper enforcement of the Supreme Court order that deals with emission levels of vehicles. Traffic rules are also not being enforced strictly to ensure a smooth flow of traffic and the situation has been confounded due to badly maintained roads and total neglect of road architecture. Traffic jams, besides the rickety mini-buses and diesel/kerosene driven tempos are adding to the daily dose of pollution which is making life more miserable for the gas victims.

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A city still gasping for breath