In an exclusive interview to IPA, the state gas welfare minister Mr. Babulal Gaur slammed the US for showing utter insensitivity towards the gas victims. Mr. Gaur has been representing one of the assembly constituencies in Bhopal for the last eight terms and thus is in close touch with the gas victims and their travails.

Excerpts

IPA: A quarter of a century has passed since the Bhopal gas tragedy. What are your thoughts on this occasion?

Babulal Gaur: The tragedy that visited Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3 was the world's biggest industrial disaster. It was a disaster that killed thousands of human beings and animals in a matter of few hours. On that day, thousands of human beings met with an untimely end and lakhs of human beings and animals suffered irreparable physical and mental damage. Most of them are still seriously ill. Till date, we do not know which medicine should be given to cure them. They are being only given symptomatic treatment. This is the reason why they continue to suffer.

IPA: The murderer of one man is hanged. The gas disaster led to the death of thousands of innocent persons but not a single culprit has been punished. Why?

BG: It is true that thousands of persons were killed. But till today, no one could be held responsible for the disaster. The fact is that there is no law in our country which can be used to punish the perpetrators of a disaster of this kind. The main problem is how to determine whether these deaths were caused deliberately or was it a mere accident. The persons held responsible for the disaster are being tried in courts of law but the legal machinery in our country moves so slowly that it takes years and years for judgments to be delivered. The then chairperson of Union Carbide Corporation, Mr. Warren Anderson had even been arrested but we ourselves sent him back to America. A non-bailable warrant against Anderson is doing the rounds for so many years now but he is yet to be arrested.

IPA: The UCC plant was established amidst a thickly-populated area. Did you try to find out why this happened? Wasn't this a serious lapse? Who was responsible for it?

BG: At the time when this plant was established, there was no population around the area. It is normal for slums to come up around an industrial plant. And that happened in this case also. Originally, there was only a “Khedapati” temple in the vicinity of the plant. The Khedapati” temples are established at the entry point of villages and towns.

It is also true that no one had an idea that such lethal and dangerous chemicals were being produced in the plant. A pesticide called “Sevin” was manufactured there and it was widely used. “Sevin” had a big market in the whole country and it was a comparatively cheaper pesticide. It can also not be denied that off and on, there were reports of a worker or two in the plant becoming unconscious. But these incidents were never taken seriously.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh had a union in the plant and so I also used to visit the plant occasionally. But I could never imagine that such lethal chemicals were being used in the plant. It is also a fact that some portions of the plant were also kept out of bounds for trade union leaders like us.

IPA: The government of India had taken the entire responsibility for all gas-related problems in its hands via a bill passed by the Parliament. Was this decision in the interest of the gas victims?

BG: After the gas tragedy, it was thought that if the claim cases for compensation were to be filed in the US, it would not be possible for all gas victims to go to the US to fight their cases. Hence, after much deliberation, it was decided that the GOI should take the entire matter in its hands. In a way, the GOI became the patron and representative of all the gas victims. As per the decision taken, cases were filed in US courts. But they refused to hear them, saying that only Indian courts were competent to try these cases. It was in this context that a serving High Court Judge was appointed the Gas relief commissioner and under him, 36 gas compensation courts were established in Bhopal. Every court heard cases pertaining to one municipal ward of the city. A total of Rs. 715 crores was allocated for disbursement as compensation.

Only 36 wards were declared gas-affected. The gas victims were required to fill up a form in which, among other things, they had to declare that they were in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984. I tried my best to get the remaining 20 municipal wards of the city also declared as gas-affected so that the residents of these wards could also get compensation. The then Prime Minister Mr. VP Singh promised that this would be done but nothing happened.

Our argument was that the methodology for identifying the gas-affected wards was unscientific. How illogical this categorisation was is evident from the fact that the Gandhinagar ward on the city's outskirts was declared a gas-affected ward when the gas had not even reached there. On the other hand, many wards were declared unaffected though the residents of those wards had suffered the ill-effect of the gas.

We again met the then Prime Minister Mr. PV Narasimha Rao along with the then Central minister Mr. Arjun Singh. But the Prime minister rejected our demand.

IPA: What have you to say about the role of Union Carbide after the tragedy? Shouldn't it have shown more sensitivity towards the plight of the gas-hit?

BG: Definitely. The Union Carbide management did not show even an iota of sensitivity towards the sufferings of the gas-hit. The Union Carbide should have taken the entire responsibility of the gas victims. After all, the world's biggest industrial disaster was its creation. So, besides compensation, the UCC should have taken up the responsibility of medical treatment and rehabilitation of the gas victims. In fact, the attitude of the UCC deserves the harshest condemnation.

IPA: If even one US citizen suffers any damage in another country, the US government moves heaven and earth to secure compensation for him. But the US government kept mum though thousands of Indians were killed. What have you to say about this?

BG: The US is a capitalist country. It is a country which gives utmost priority to its own interests. The US government did not even care to send a condolence message after a tragedy of this magnitude. There are no words strong enough to condemn this insensitive attitude of the US government.

IPA: Even today, a large number of gas victims visit the special hospitals established for their treatment. Despite this, there are persistent rumours that these hospitals are about to be closed. Please tell us whether these rumours have any substance?

BG: The special hospitals for gas victims will never be closed. We have sought an assistance of Rs. 250 crores from the Union government. If we get that money, we will use it to run the hospitals. But even otherwise, they will continue to function. (IPA)