The group of ministers (GoM) on the Bhopal gas tragedy, which met for a second consecutive day on Saturday, is trying to decide on whom responsibility should be fixed for the tragedy and its aftermath. The corporate affairs ministry has been asked to find out the details, sources disclosed.
Certain reports were placed before the GoM regarding the ownership of the Bhopal plant. The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide of India Ltd (UCIL), a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corp. (UCC) at the time of the disaster in December 1984. Kolkata-based Eveready Industries bought the Indian subsidiary, UCIL, in 1994, and the US-based Dow Chemicals acquired the parent, UCC, in 2001.
The government wants to resolve the issue since both Eveready and Dow deny involvement and say they cannot be held responsible. Eveready had said it had no link or involvement with the operations of the Bhopal plant as it had closed down and “ceased to exist as an asset in the company’s record books”. Dow Chemicals also toed a similar line. “The records are being called in and we are going to resolve the issue,” a Union minister said.
The GoM is likely to recommend that the government press for extradition from the US of Mr Warren Anderson, who was the chief of Union Carbide Corp. at the time of the gas leak.