GoM on Bhopal likely to ask for more relief

The Union government is examining increased compensation to the families of Bhopal gas victims to address the public anger in the wake of a recent court verdict.

The government’s reconstituted Group of Ministers (GoM) on the tragedy and its aftermath had its first meeting today. The prime minister wants the panel to give its report by next week. Meanwhile, the Planning Commission sanctioned Rs 982 crore to the Madhya Pradesh government for health and environment spending on the gas aftermath. The GoM, which meets again tomorrow, will have to approve this.

One major issue the ministers will recommend is on the responsibility for cleaning the massive residue of toxic waste at the defunct Union Carbide factory. The fund sanctioned today is expected to be, among other things, used for this.

Till date, families of around 5,000 victims of the December 1984 tragedy have received compensation. However, various other estimates suggest the death toll was nothing less than 15,000, with many succumbing over the years to the long-term effects. A top source in the government said the GoM, being chaired by Home Minister P Chidambaram, is looking at the issue. The government has so far awarded compensation for deaths till 1997. It might extend the line to accommodate more cases.

After the meeting today, Chidambaram said, “The mandate is to look at relief, rehabilitation, remediation and all options available to the government after the judgment of the trial court on the 7th of June. We have identified the areas that require in-depth consideration. We are looking into number of people affected, number of claims that were accepted.”

The issue of then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson’s extradition was not discussed in the meeting, sources said.

While the first meeting, lasting for almost two hours, exclusively dealt with the compensation issue, there will be five more meetings in the next three days, to quickly wrap up the discussions and give the report to the Prime Minister on Monday, two days before the deadline.

A source in the GoM told Business Standard, “Reports from all ministries concerned were tabled to the GoM. We will finalise our recommendations only on Monday.”

Tomorrow, the GoM is likely to discuss the health issues and the legal issues in separate sessions. On Sunday, the GoM will deal with the environmental issues and the clean-up operations in the abandoned Union Carbide premises.

A source in the GoM indicated the government was likely to press Carbide (now Dow Chemicals) to take up more responsibility in cleaning the Bhopal premises. “A case on this issue is pending at a Jabalpur court. Our stand is that it’s the responsibility of Dow to bear the entire expenses of the clean-up operations,” said a minister and member of the GoM. In the meeting, the law ministry proposed the Union government handle the clean-up operations.