In remembrance of the Bhopal gas genocide, Navdanya along with other civil society organisations is organising a People’s Assembly against Dow/DuPont. This will an assesment of Dow/DuPont's crimes; genocide and ecocide against the people of Bhopal.
This is the 32nd anniversary year of the struggle for Bhopal and we together are giving the call for " No More Bhopal" by creating an alternative a poison free organic India.
The Bhopal gas genocide of December 3, 1984, in which at least 2,300 to 10,000 people died overnight and between 200,000 to 500,000 were injured, is the worst industrial disaster in the history of the world. Even today, tens of thousands are dying a slow death because of the exposure to the toxic Methly isocyanate (MIC). MIC was used to create a highly noxious pesticide called ‘Sevin’ and that was manufactured by a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company, Union Carbide Company(UCC).
But the poisoning of the Bhopal did not end on 3rd December, toxic chemicals continued leak from the solar evaporation ponds. They contaminated the water bodies and surrounding areas near the UCC factory. People living in those areas are still exposed to heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, etc. In fact a recent survey found out that 19 out of 20 women living in affected areas still have mercury in their breast milk. Even after 32 years, the, people have little access to poison free, clean water. Children continue to be born deformed and with teratogenic effects.
Chingari Trust, which has been working closely with the differently abled children have about 800 children with disabilities enrolled, yet thousands more are left out as their are no rehabilitatation facilties for them.
The current situation is grim, for the survivors as the government hospitals that were set up to treat the victims are now defunct. Due to lack of resources and doctors, the victims and their families have to go to private clinics and hospitals.
Further, the government of India, which has still not managed to get just compensation for the survivors. There are many cases being fought against Dow by the people of Bhopal, which demand justice for their losses and to make the company liable for crimes against the people of Bhopal and no make sure no corporations in the world can escape with such heinous crimes.
Faced with such corrupt systems and corporations, the people of Bhopal along with Navdanya will be organising a People’s assembly to give out our judgement against Dow-DuPont for their crimes. Through this assembly we will analyse each aspect of the genocide and pass the verdict. We have experts from all fields that have worked closely with the survivors of Bhopal and continue to fight to get justice for Bhopal
Today, the Bhopal is not just a city, it represents the crises that is still affecting people even after three decades. At worst today the posions of Bhopal has seeped into every home with the spread of industrial agricutlure. There are cancer trains going from Punjab to Rajasthan, and all across the fertile farming lands of India, especially in the rural areas there is a growing cancer epidemic. The same poisons that caused genocide in Bhopal are now killing millions all across the country. There is a food style disease epidemic, that is caused by toxin laden, pesticide sprayed foods.
From our venue of Gandhi Bhavan, Bhopal, we shall pledge to create an alternative to the poisons in our food systems and an alternative to the toxic cartel of war chemical producing companies that are destroying our foods and our health. We shall give a call for Organic India, and make sure that all of our fields and farms are free of the chemical poisons of the Green Revolution. There will be no place for toxics in our farms or on our plates. We had work to create a poison free and organic India by 2020 and send out a message to all people of the world, NO MORE BHOPAL, not in our fields and not in our foods.
