Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, a former chemicals and fertiliser minister, says both the Congress and BJP-led governments at the centre were “non-serious in handling the Bhopal gas tragedy” and he heard one excuse after another as to why nothing could be done to give relief to the affected people or take action against then Union Carbine chief Warren Anderson.
In an interview, Mr Paswan said: “As chemical and fertiliser minister in the UPA government, I tried to gather detailed information and start the clean-up efforts. But the response was discouraging.”
The former minister said he had called meetings of senior officials “after I got representations from many NGOs and activists. But there were several bureaucratic excuses to any action.” “One reason cited was that it did not come within the jurisdiction of my ministry. Another excuse was that the matter was sub-judice. Everyone talked of the court directives as if the lives of the several thousands of people killed or injured was unimportant,” he said.
“In the light of the recent trial court judgment and the media revelations in the Bhopal case, I can understand the old designs of the leading parties better. The Congress was not interested in taking harsh action as it was in charge of the administration in MP and at the Centre,” he said during the incident in 1984. Both the Centre and the state had a lot to hide,” he said. “The district police chief and district magistrate might have obviously acted under the directive of (then CM) Arjun Singh.” —IANS