23 years and the struggle is still on!

Shortly after midnight on Dec 3 1984, poisonous gases leaked from Union carbide plant, bhopal leading to thousands of dead bodies on the streets in a few hours. Union carbide's CEO Warren Anderson arrested and let out on bail flew back to US and the Indian government has not been able to extradite him yet. In the last 23 years,
•500,000 people were exposed to deadly gas
•More than 20,000 dead till date and around 50,000 are too sick to work for a living
•Around 150,000 suffering serious long term health effects
•Continued contamination of groundwater and environment not addressed by DOW Chemicals which took over Union Carbide

The indian government accepted an out of court settlement with union carbide in 1989 and after years of delay, the survivors got $500 each as compensation couple of years back. The victims weren’t consulted in the settlement discussions and it is not even enough for five years of their medical treatment. The plant has not been cleaned yet and the toxicity has reached the ground water making it unfit for drinking.
None of the plants safety systems were working. Some were switched off to save power and money! AFter 23 years, none of them have been punished. Warren and Union carbide have been issued summons and both did not appear for trial. They were named 'absconders' by bhopal district court in 1992. The new twist came about when Dow took over Union carbide in 2001. Union carbide is now a 100% subsidiary of Dow chemicals however Dow continues to argue that it does not have any liabilities in bhopal. But soon after the acquisition, Dow setaside $2.2 billion for an outstanding claim against Union Carbide to pay off former Union Carbide asbestos workers in Texas.
Bhopalis meanwhile continues to suffer from a range of health problems from contamination of breast milk to stunted growth. Over the last 23 years, they have continued to struggle non violently for their rights. Hundreds of survivors marched from bhopal to delhi to meet the PM in 2006 demanding clean up of site by dow and also ask the government to provide drinking water to them. Afte 6 days of hunger strike, Dr Manmohan singhpromised them with actions to provide clean drinking water, set up a National commission to look into the issue and make dow pay and clean up for the act. Two years later, they have again marched on foot frombhopal to delhi asking the PM to walk his talk. Having marched for around 40 days and sitting on the pavement at jantar mantar bearing 40 degrees for a month now, they are still waiting to meet the PM.There has been serious concernsamong the movement that the government is considering to let Dow off the hook for an investment of $1 billion dollar in the country.
The movement however over the years have managed to create awareness among many Indians andinternational community all over the world. Campuses from IITs in India to Texas A & M are discussing putting off Dow's funding for research and recruitments. Recently IIT Delhi returned Dow's sponsorshipfor an international conference.
Bhopal has been a case of extreme lack of political will on one side and a huge corporate criminal negligence on the other side. Ethics and environment has been increasingly becoming a bad word for a lot of corporates and governments whos only worry has been foreign investments, profit and growth percentage. For many of these voiceless people who have been suffering at the hands of corporate and state oppression, non violent people's movement has been the only ray of hope. 23 years of suffering, 500 miles of walk and 40 degrees of heat - Will the PM hear it??