Bhopal water polluted, no move yet for toxic waste removal

(September 28, 2012) A research body told India’s Supreme Court this week that water in Bhopal, the scene of the world’s worst chemical disaster in 1984, remains contaminated and unfit to drink as the dispute over who should clean up the mess drags on. The report by the Indian Institute of Toxicological Research said it conducted 26 tests around the site of the former Union Carbide plant and found them to be contaminated nearly 28 years after a lethal methyl isocyanate leak killed more than 5,000 people as they slept and an estimated 25,000 afterwards. Rachna Dhingra, an activist said the lab report has vindicated their claim and they are hopeful that the government will look into the plight of the people and ensure them safe drinking water. She noted that the complaint about water contamination in Bhopal had first surfaced in 1977, seven years before the disaster struck Bhopal, but the state government ignored the issue. Union Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical, previously debated whether groundwater had been poisoned by the leak and has not taken responsibility for cleaning up the site, saying that it was operated by independently traded company Union Carbide India Limited. Union Carbide held a majority 50.9 percent stake in the operation.