Bhopal: A Continuing Tragedy >> What Has Been Done >> Union Carbide

Union Carbide

Introduction

Although many activists of Bhopal, and others all blame Union Carbide for the happenings in Bhopal, it can be said that Union Carbide has done certain things to remedy the situation. One of the first things that they did right after it happened in a reaction to the tragedy was to donate about two million dollars to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. However, protesting, and survivors felt they weren’t being compensated for the tragedy enough. Over the years, Union Carbide had sold itself and its liability to DOW Chemical Company. Activists went on rallies, campaigned, and tried to prosecute DOW, however Warren Anderson, the CEO, escaped trial.

Results in the Water

            After the gas tragedy, they also set up certain experiments to test the toxicity of the water. However, their results were very different from what has been shown to this day. Their conclusions stated that the water, although it had come into contact with the MIC (methyl isocyanate), it was not toxic, and therefore mostly safe to use. Being uninformed, the people of Bhopal continued to apply the contaminated water in daily usage- therefore creating the birth defects, and numerous problems among the newer generations in Bhopal just by repeatedly coming into contact with the water. Later studies show, that the conclusions were in fact wrong, and the water was contaminated.

Other Efforts

            However, the two million dollars given is not the only thing that DOW/Union Carbide can claim that they have done. At the beginning of the tragedy, they provided medical provisions and materials, for quite a while too. An additional amount of ten million dollars was offered by them to create, set up, and operate a hospital, but they were rejected on this. So instead they created a new, independent hospital, and funded it with the starting amount of twenty million dollars. They later provided about 90 million more, in funding after a court order. Another thing that DOW and UC have done was to create a team of experts whose area of expertise was in the medical field, and spanned internationally to Bhopal to help out those who had been in or were affected by the tragedy. Another five million dollars went to the Indian Red Cross, while two million, two hundred thousand dollars went to Arizona State University. However, the vocational-technical for which the 2.2 million went to, it was late closed down because of issues with the government. Lastly, through discussion in a court case, both sides agreed to an amount of $470 million paid by DOW to the victims as a relief effort. This money was distributed to the survivors. However, most of them, because there were so many, got only 400 to 500 dollars per person, and continue to struggle through their daily lives.

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."

-Author unknown; quote is well-known and often used.