Two decades after the world's worst industrial accident in Bhopal, India, the companies responsible for the disaster are finally in the dock, reports Rajeshree Sisodia from New Delhi Company directors at a multi- billion dollar chemical company are set to be summoned to court to explain why top executives should not be forced to face manslaughter charges for the world's biggest industrial disaster. A senior judge in the Indian city of Bhopal ordered for the first time -- on 6 January -- that the United States-based Dow Chemical company must explain why Dow should not legally be forced to make American Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) -- a subsidiary of Dow -- appear before the Bhopal courts to face criminal charges after thousands of people were killed in a gas leak at a Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide factory in Bhopal 20 years ago. The disaster which occurred on 2 December1984 is widely considered to be the world's worst industrial accident. UCC, which owned UCIL until 1994, was branded as an "absconder" by the Bhopal judiciary in 1992, after failing to appear in the court to face charges of manslaughter, grievous assault and the poisoning and killing of animals. Dow has until 15 February 2005 to set its case to the courts. If judges do not accept the company's stance which denies any responsibility for the tragedy -- a view the multinational has continued to take as UCC only recently merged with Dow in 2001-- the company could be legally forced to make UCC appear in court in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), a support group for victims of the incident, helped bring the application to summon Dow to court. "We want Dow to show us why it should not be forced to make UCC appear in court," said BGIA member Satinath Sarangi, before the ruling. "Dow is sheltering a fugitive." Amnesty International estimated that around 7,000 people died in the immediate aftermath of the Bhopal gas leak two decades ago, sparked when a lethal cocktail of gases, including methyl isocyanate, leaked from a faulty valve in the factory into the 550,000 strong community of Old Bhopal. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, as many as 150,000 people were still suffering from "gas-exposure related illnesses" in 2001, while thousands more continue to be poisoned by water contaminated by gases and chemicals which have leaked into Bhopal's water system. Preeti Singh, 17, who lives in a slum near the now derelict factory, said she continues to suffer from gynaecological problems to this day, brought on, she believes by exposure to contaminated water. "I feel angry, Union Carbide dumped these toxic chemicals here," she added. "They should come here and realise what kind of problems [we have] and then they would realise automatically what kind of help we need and then they would take responsibility." Campaigners and former factory workers blame faulty equipment, poor staff training and a culture of cost-cutting for the tragedy. The court ruling comes as a severe blow to Dow, a company which made more than $10 billion in sales during the third quarter of last year. After Bhopal's Chief Judicial Magistrate ruled that the summons should be served to Dow, Scot Wheeler, spokesman for the US chemical company, said Dow had not received an order from the court. "Dow is not the appropriate party as it has never operated or owned the facility and therefore has no legal liability," he added. The trial in Bhopal of directors and staff from UCIL, who face charges of Rash Negligent Acts, is set to continue for at least another three years. Meanwhile, the New York District Court is also deciding whether UCC or the Madhya Pradesh state Government, which assumed control of the pesticide plant in 1998, should clean up the factory. UCC refused to comment on the ruling.
