US multinational Dow Chemicals, facing a criminal suit over the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, has been trying to get the Indian embassy in Washington to persuade the government to clean up the site of the erstwhile Union Carbide plant, according to information acquired after invoking the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The matter came to light last month after the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery and Karmachari Sangh, an association of survivors and activists, made use of the RTI act to seek copies of the letter from the Planning Commission.
The letter dated Nov 8, 2006 from Dow chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris to the Indian Ambassador to US, Ronen Sen, said: 'With support of local Indian CEOs and foundations, there is opportunity now for the Government of India to work closely with the state of Madhya Pradesh and the Indian industry to remediate the Bhopal site.
'This should take place expeditiously - beginning immediately with GoI officials and industry leaders meeting with the relevant cabinet secretary (sic) who has executive oversight for the remediation efforts,' the letter said.
At least 20,000 people were killed and several thousands were maimed for life due to the leak of poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide plant on Dec 2-3, 1984, termed as the worst industrial disaster in history.
Dow Chemicals took over the Union Carbide factory in 2001 but has since been evading its responsibility to clean up the area around the closed plant where toxic waste has continued to affect the health of the people living in the neighbourhood.
The letter further added that 'the GoI and the state government will need to work with the court overseeing site clean-up to assure that this effort will pass legal muster as the site's final remediation plan.'
The firm said: 'Leaders need to work with all ministries of the central government to ensure that their stated position is reflected in any (sic) and of GoI's statements, legal files, and dealings with the Indian court system.
'...Specifically, the GoI ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers applied to the court in May 2005 to order Dow to pay a deposit of Rs.100 crore (Rs.1 billion) or approximately $22 million against environmental remediation costs.
'The ministry should now withdraw its application for a financial deposit against remediation costs. Certainly a withdrawal of the application would be positive, tangible demonstration that the GoI means,' the letter added.
Another letter retrieved using the RTI act finds that Tata group chief Ratan Tata had written to Planning Commission deputy chairman M.S. Ahluwalia supporting the cause of Dow.
'Dear Montek, Andrew Liveris of Dow sent me a copy of a letter that he sent to Ronen Sen, which I enclose for your information. I understand Vipul Shah of Dow India also intends to brief you on this next week,' said Tata's letter dated Nov 28, 2006.
'This is obviously a key aspect and I wanted your assessment on whether this is possible,' the letter added.
The Tata group has formally offered to take up the responsibility of cleaning up the site and pave the way for Dow's investments in India.
