Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Citing the Polluter Pay Principle, victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy have urged the government to hold the US-based Dow Chemical Company accountable for disposing of the chemical waste from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). The tragedy survivor said that instead of handling the waste disposal at the Pithampur plant, the government should ask Dow Chemical, which has bought the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) to dispose of the toxic chemical waste lying at the UCC plant here.
Complying with the directives of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the state government has begun preparing for incineration of 337 MT UCC chemical at Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL), Pithampur Industrial Area. Earlier this month on the 40th anniversary of Bhopal Gas tragedy, the court had directed the government to clean up the UCC site of the chemical waste within four weeks time.
The Central government has already sanctioned Rs 126 crore to the state government for disposal of UCC waste. Petition over jurisdiction is already pending before the trial court (District and Sessions court), Bhopal seeking that the Dow Chemical be tried for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed many people and caused environmental damage.
According to gas victims, in 2009 an US lawmaker had asked Dow Chemicals to clean up its factory site in Bhopal and fund necessary medical care and research studies to treat the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. “Dow should clean up the factory site, which continues to contaminate the local environment and should go beyond simply providing compensation to the victims,” Frank Pallone, Democratic Congressman from New Jersey, had told the US House of Representatives.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Gas Information and Action (BGIA) said that Dow Chemical (current owner of Union Carbide) should pay for the transport and disposal of this hazardous waste at facilities in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
“Just as Unilever corporation was made to transport mercury waste from Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu to the USA in 2003. We want that under the Polluters Pays Principle, Dow should be asked to transport the Union Carbide waste back to the US.”
