Govts care a fig for courts !

N D Sharma

A grim reminder of the tragedy

The Bhopal gas leak tragedy completes 34 years on December 3. Relief and rehabilitation of the survivors of the disaster used to be a major issue during election time in Madhya Pradesh, with the parties making all sorts of promises for their welfare. No more now.
Not that their rehabilitation has been completed or their complex health problems have been taken care of. No party in power has been honest in implementing its promises made during the election time, in spite of repeated directions by the State High Court and the Supreme Court. This time, though, the political parties have hardly remembered them.
The BJP, which has been ruling the State since 2003, has not deemed it necessary even to mention the Bhopal gas tragedy in its 72-page election manifesto. The Congress has pointed casually that it will review the position of rehabilitation of the gas affected families and recommend opening of a separate department for treatment of gas affected persons at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Of course, CPI and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have promised in their manifestos to ensure proper rehabilitation of the gas victims.
The tragedy is thus summarised in a Supreme Court judgement: “Disasters resulting from human error/negligence prove more tragic and completely imbalance the inter- generational equity and cause irretrievable damage (that) may occur from pure negligence, contributory negligence or even failure to take necessary precautions in carrying on certain industrial activities… the magnitude and extent of adverse impact on the financial soundness, social health and upbringing of younger generation, including progenies, may have been beyond human expectations….the Bhopal Gas Tragedy is a glaring example of such imbalance.”

An estimated 5 lakh 70 thousand persons affected by the gas leak disaster are in need of economic and environmental rehabilitation. More pressing is the problem of those who need treatment for complicated ailments caused by the gas leak.

The successive governments in the State and at the Centre have been so apathetic towards the victims of the tragedy that even the Supreme Court felt tired of issuing directions. In a 2012 judgement, a three-judge bench of the apex Court observed that this Court had been passing various directions “right from the filing of this petition and had directed certain effective and positive steps to be taken by the Union of India as well as the State of Madhya Pradesh to ensure providing of appropriate medical treatment to the gas victims.
It is no use referring to the different orders passed by this Court from time to time in detail. However, we will be referring to some of the important orders in brief which have a bearing on the issue now pending before this Court and for passing of the final directions”.
The bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) of 1988 moved by Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) and others.
The judges noted: “As we have already noticed, with the passage of time this disaster has attained wider dimensions and greater concerns, which require discharge of higher responsibilities by all the agencies.
In terms of Article 21 of the Constitution, all the gas victims are entitled to a greater extent the multi-dimensional health care, as their sufferings are in no way, directly or indirectly, attributable to them. It was, primarily and undoubtedly, the negligence on the part of the Union Carbide Ltd that resulted in leakage of the MiC gas, causing irreversible damage to the health of not only the persons affected but even the children who were still to be born.”
The bench directed “all concerned in the Union of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, Empowered Monitoring Committee, Advisory Committee, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), NIREH (National Institute for Research in Environmental Health), BMHRC (Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre) and all other Government or non-Government departments/agencies involved in the implementation of Relief and Rehabilitation Programme and research activity, to carry out the above directions expeditiously and without demur and default.” It added:
“We grant liberty to the applicants and/or the petitioners or any other affected person to move the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Bench at Jabalpur, in the event of violation, noncompliance or default of any of the above directions or any other orders passed by this Court.”
The elaborate directions of the Supreme Court had hardly any impact on those entrusted by the apex Court to carry out these directions. BGPMUS

Most of the amount allocated by the Centre for the rehabilitation of the gas victims has been used by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for other activities.

convener Abdul Jabbar, who was the main petitioner in the PIL of 1988, moved a contempt petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, at Jabalpur, in 2015 (as suggested by the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court). The petition is yet to be decided.
Jabbar says an estimated 5 lakh 70 thousand persons affected by the gas leak disaster are in need of economic and environmental rehabilitation. More pressing is the problem of those who need treatment for complicated ailments caused by the gas leak.
The adverse effect of the gas leak did not remain confined to the persons who came in its direct contact.
It affected the next generation also. The hospitals and dispensaries set up specially for the treatment of the gas victims have either been wound up or are in bad shape. The gas victims going to these hospitals are treated shabbily. Sometimes they are not even attended to unless an activist working for the gas victims (like Abdul Jabbar) intervenes.
Meanwhile, an RTI inquiry by an activist, Rachna Dhingra, has revealed that most of the amount allocated by the Centre for the rehabilitation of the gas victims has been used by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for other activities. According to the reply received by Dhingra, the Union Government had released Rs 272.75 crore for the rehabilitation of the gas victims in 2010. The State government had used till now only Rs 129.50 crore. Out of the remaining Rs 143.25 crore, Rs 85.87 crore has been diverted for other government schemes.



		EDITOR'S MAIL EDITOR'S COMMENT SAFFRON FALL SIGNALS FOR TELANGANA SAFFRON FALL FRANKLY SPEAKING LOK SABHA ELECTIONS STATE OF ECONOMY REALPOLITIK AGRARIAN DISTRESS BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY PAST IN THE PRESENT MUMBAI TERROR ATTACK GLOBAL AFFAIRS KARTARPUR CORRIDOR HITS & MISSES BOOK BAZAAR SIGNS OF THE TIMES BOOK BAZAAR POLLUTION FALLOUT FOREST MANAGEMENT PATRIARCHAL BIAS IRANIAN FILMS A MIRROR TO SOCIETY ON RECORD ART OF LIVING Issue:January' 2018 Subscribe Now	BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY Govts care a fig for courts ! N D Sharma A grim reminder of the tragedy The Bhopal gas leak tragedy completes 34 years on December 3. Relief and rehabilitation of the survivors of the disaster used to be a major issue during election time in Madhya Pradesh, with the parties making all sorts of promises for their welfare. No more now. Not that their rehabilitation has been completed or their complex health problems have been taken care of. No party in power has been honest in implementing its promises made during the election time, in spite of repeated directions by the State High Court and the Supreme Court. This time, though, the political parties have hardly remembered them. The BJP, which has been ruling the State since 2003, has not deemed it necessary even to mention the Bhopal gas tragedy in its 72-page election manifesto. The Congress has pointed casually that it will review the position of rehabilitation of the gas affected families and recommend opening of a separate department for treatment of gas affected persons at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Of course, CPI and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have promised in their manifestos to ensure proper rehabilitation of the gas victims. The tragedy is thus summarised in a Supreme Court judgement: “Disasters resulting from human error/negligence prove more tragic and completely imbalance the inter- generational equity and cause irretrievable damage (that) may occur from pure negligence, contributory negligence or even failure to take necessary precautions in carrying on certain industrial activities… the magnitude and extent of adverse impact on the financial soundness, social health and upbringing of younger generation, including progenies, may have been beyond human expectations….the Bhopal Gas Tragedy is a glaring example of such imbalance.” An estimated 5 lakh 70 thousand persons affected by the gas leak disaster are in need of economic and environmental rehabilitation. More pressing is the problem of those who need treatment for complicated ailments caused by the gas leak. The successive governments in the State and at the Centre have been so apathetic towards the victims of the tragedy that even the Supreme Court felt tired of issuing directions. In a 2012 judgement, a three-judge bench of the apex Court observed that this Court had been passing various directions “right from the filing of this petition and had directed certain effective and positive steps to be taken by the Union of India as well as the State of Madhya Pradesh to ensure providing of appropriate medical treatment to the gas victims. It is no use referring to the different orders passed by this Court from time to time in detail. However, we will be referring to some of the important orders in brief which have a bearing on the issue now pending before this Court and for passing of the final directions”. The bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) of 1988 moved by Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) and others. The judges noted: “As we have already noticed, with the passage of time this disaster has attained wider dimensions and greater concerns, which require discharge of higher responsibilities by all the agencies. In terms of Article 21 of the Constitution, all the gas victims are entitled to a greater extent the multi-dimensional health care, as their sufferings are in no way, directly or indirectly, attributable to them. It was, primarily and undoubtedly, the negligence on the part of the Union Carbide Ltd that resulted in leakage of the MiC gas, causing irreversible damage to the health of not only the persons affected but even the children who were still to be born.” The bench directed “all concerned in the Union of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, Empowered Monitoring Committee, Advisory Committee, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), NIREH (National Institute for Research in Environmental Health), BMHRC (Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre) and all other Government or non-Government departments/agencies involved in the implementation of Relief and Rehabilitation Programme and research activity, to carry out the above directions expeditiously and without demur and default.” It added: “We grant liberty to the applicants and/or the petitioners or any other affected person to move the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Bench at Jabalpur, in the event of violation, noncompliance or default of any of the above directions or any other orders passed by this Court.” The elaborate directions of the Supreme Court had hardly any impact on those entrusted by the apex Court to carry out these directions. BGPMUS Most of the amount allocated by the Centre for the rehabilitation of the gas victims has been used by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for other activities. convener Abdul Jabbar, who was the main petitioner in the PIL of 1988, moved a contempt petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, at Jabalpur, in 2015 (as suggested by the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court). The petition is yet to be decided. Jabbar says an estimated 5 lakh 70 thousand persons affected by the gas leak disaster are in need of economic and environmental rehabilitation. More pressing is the problem of those who need treatment for complicated ailments caused by the gas leak. The adverse effect of the gas leak did not remain confined to the persons who came in its direct contact. It affected the next generation also. The hospitals and dispensaries set up specially for the treatment of the gas victims have either been wound up or are in bad shape. The gas victims going to these hospitals are treated shabbily. Sometimes they are not even attended to unless an activist working for the gas victims (like Abdul Jabbar) intervenes. Meanwhile, an RTI inquiry by an activist, Rachna Dhingra, has revealed that most of the amount allocated by the Centre for the rehabilitation of the gas victims has been used by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for other activities. According to the reply received by Dhingra, the Union Government had released Rs 272.75 crore for the rehabilitation of the gas victims in 2010. The State government had used till now only Rs 129.50 crore. Out of the remaining Rs 143.25 crore, Rs 85.87 crore has been diverted for other government schemes.