Indian archbishop wants fresh survey for Bhopal victims

(September 4, 2010) The archbishop of Bhopal, in central India, has asked for a new survey to identify all survivors of the 1984 gas tragedy, a day after the Supreme Court decided to reopen the case on the disaster. Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal made the appeal on Wednesday, saying such a survey would help ensure safe rehabilitation and proper medical care of victims. His call came after India’s Supreme Court on Aug. 31 agreed to review the case following a government petition seeking harsher punishment against Union Carbide Corporation officials. The tragedy of Dec. 3, 1984 occurred when 40 tons of poisonous gas leaked out of the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state. The disaster has since claimed more than 25,000 lives. Some 550,000 people are engaged in legal battles for justice. India’s apex court’s decision to review the case may lead to the quashing of its own 1996 verdict. The court said officials caused death through negligence, but did not charge them with culpable homicide. Based on that verdict, a lower court in June this year gave a two-year jail term to seven Union Carbide employees, in the first ever conviction in the case after 25 years. Though media analysts said the review may lead to harsher punishment, Archbishop Cornelio said the issues before the Church is not punishment, but people’s suffering. Nearly 75 percent of victims have already died without getting proper medical care. “Now let us think of helping those remaining instead of playing politics,” the archbishop said, adding they need proper housing, medical care, food, clothing and care. He also offered the Church’s help and expertise in conducting a fresh survey.