1984 Bhopal Disaster

Sources: Google Videos, Greenpeace.org, Wikipedia.org

I am posting this video on the wake of Bhopal's gas tragedy victims march to New Delhi. This is a documentary on the 1984 Bhopal disaster and aftermath. The Bhopal disaster is the world's worst industrial disasters in the history of mankind. The explosion at Union Carbide plant located at the heart of the city of Bhopal caused a release of toxic gas rolled along the ground through the surrounding streets killing thousands of people. The gases also injured anywhere from 150,000 to 600,000 people. Six safety measures designed to prevent a gas leak had either malfunctioned, were turned off or were otherwise inadequate. In addition, the safety siren, intended to alert the community should an incident occur at the plant, was turned off.


Warren Anderson, Union Carbide India CEO knew about a 1982 safety audit of the Bhopal plant, which identified 30 major hazards. Rather than fix them in Bhopal, only the company's identical plant in the US was fixed. Neglecting these hazards in Bhopal caused the deadly explosion. Anderson flew to India after the disaster but to the company's surprise, police investigating the disaster immediately arrested him. He subsequently jumped bail and was flow by private jet back to the US, never to return to India. Now he lives a life of luxury in New York State. Anderson has been hiding in the US since the explosion at his company's plant in Bhopal which caused the immediate deaths of thousands of people and led to life long suffering of over 150,000 survivors.

Greenpeace International — George Bush is willing to spend billions, sacrifice many innocent lives, break international laws and dole out summary justice in the pursuit of his misguided 'war on terror'. However if you are a rich American ultimately responsible for the death of more than 20,000 poor people in far off India, you can expect a life of luxury safe from the long arm of the US law.

While fleeing the law in India his company abandoned the polluted factory site allowing it to poison Bhopal residents for 18 years. He did not disclose the composition of the poisonous gas (the company still claims this is a trade secret), thus preventing doctors from properly treating over 150,000 people who are still sick. Very little of the money from the settlement reached with Union Carbide went to the survivors, and people in the area feel betrayed not only by Union Carbide (and chairman Warren Anderson), but also by their own politicians. Dow Chemical took over Union Carbide in 2001 but it claims Union Carbide has 'settled' the issue of Bhopal.

Read more at Wikipedia.org and GreenPeace.org
Also, Remembering Bhopal - A Photo Essay

"AID - You can help the citizens of Bhopal and the marchers now, with your words of encouragement and your assurance to them that come what may, we are all behind them in their time of need and in their rightful protest for what is due to them. All it takes now is a click of a mouse and a punch of keys - The blog can be reached at: http://bhopal.aidindia.org/blog/. You can leave your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each article on the blog. This is an effort to show the victims of Bhopal's Gas Tragedy that we, the volunteers of AID both in India and the US, are united as one behind them and fully support their cause and their demands for justice.All it takes is one click on your part: Visit Now!"