The Group of Ministers (GoM), which submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, has made an observation claiming that Dow Chemicals, the US-based company, which bought the Union Carbide Corp in 2001, can not be made liable for “criminal” offences in the gas leakage tragedy, which took place 26 years ago in Bhopal.
The GoM, headed by home minister P. Chidambram, however, recommended filing a curative petition in the Supreme Court seeking restoration of the stringent charges filed in the CBI chargesheet against the accused in the case. The panel has also recommended a Central package of Rs 1,300 crores for the victims enhancing the compensation for the kin of dead to Rs 10 lakhs and for permanently disabled Rs 5 lakhs. A special meeting of the Union Cabinet has been called on Friday to deliberate and decide on the recommendations of the GoM.
In 1996 a bench of the apex court headed by then chief justice A.M. Ahmadi had reduced the charge from Section 304-Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to Section 304 A (criminal negligence) of IPC. While Section 304 II provides a maximum imprisonment of 10 years, Section 304 A provides a maximum jail term of two years. The GoM is also believed to have recommended to the government that it could pursue the “civil liability” of Dow Chemicals by following up on a case in the Bhopal high court in its Jabalpur bench.
Union surface transport minister Kamal Nath, who is a member of the GoM, said that the ministerial panel has decided to make fresh attempts to seek extradition of 89-year-old Anderson, who now lives outside New York, on the basis of “fresh material” available.
The GoM has taken a view that the onus of cleaning up of the disaster site in Bhopal would rest with the state government and the Centre would only provide financial and technical support to it. This is going to be the first time that the government would be undertaking the detoxification, dismantling and removal of a toxic plant.
For the purpose the government would set aside Rs 300 crores, the sources said, adding that the government was planning to transport the 500 tonnes toxic materials to Pitampura in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, where an incinerator has been put in place, for disposal. It is expected that a trial run with 40 tonnes of toxic waste will be carried out in the next two months. Global tenders would be floated for the exercise and the Centre is expected to deploy paramilitary forces during the clean-up process. All other material in the plant will be detoxified and dismantled using scientific methods. However, 1.1 million tonnes of contaminated soil will be buried at the disaster site itself with a concrete slab, above which a memorial would be constructed, the sources added. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will be undertaking the study on the health impact of the disaster over the next 15 years.
The GoM has classified the victims of the gas tragedy into four categories — dead, permanently disabled, partially disabled and those suffering from cancer. Elaborating on how the relief money will be disbursed among the victims of different categories, Mr Nath said, that the dead would get Rs 10 lakhs while the permanently disabled will get Rs 5 lakhs, those temporarily disabled will get Rs 1 lakh. Those afflicted by cancer and other serious ailments will get Rs 2 lakhs, he said adding the money would be given after deducting payments already made to the victims.
He said the Centre would foot Rs 750 crores in this regard. The welfare commissioner, Bhopal gas tragedy, will be responsible for disbursement of the money to the right persons, the sources said adding that no fresh claims would be entertained. “The government plans to complete the process of giving relief to the victims by the end of this year,” they said. Sources said that the package would also include re-habilitation in the form of job opportunities to those affected by the tragedy.
Meanwhile, expressing dissatisfaction over the package suggested by the GoM, Madhya Pradesh minister Babulal Gaur, who is also a member of the panel, said, the state government had demanded a package of Rs 5,000 crores.
Moreover, following the final session of the meeting Mr Chidambaram said that the ministers have made “significant recommendations” and their immediate focus was “to bring relief to those people who had suffered as a result of the ghastly tragedy”.
The GoM has favoured to take over the Bhopal Memorial Trust hospital, set up in the aftermath of the tragedy. It has earmarked Rs 230 crores for the upgradation of this and six other hospitals, where victims are likely to get free treatment.
Altogether 5,295 people lost their lives immediately after the gas disaster while 10,047 others succumbed to various diseases in the following months. Out of the 5,60,000 affected people, nearly 37,000 were permanently disabled while the rest received minor injuries.
The home minister said thousands of people continue to suffer due to the tragedy and the Central government was “extremely sympathetic” to their plight. “We think we have made significant recommendations. GoM is not over. It will continue to address any issue that will come up before it,” he said, adding that the panel has identified several residuary issues, which will be dealt with in the future meetings of the GoM.