Archbishop Calls for Fresh Survey for Bhopal Victims

BHOPAL, Sept. 03, 2010, 12:00 Hrs (UCAN):

The archbishop of Bhopal 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 Sept. 1, saying such a survey would help ensure safe rehabilitation and proper medical care of victims.

His call came after the 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.

The disaster has since claimed more than 25,000 lives. Some 550,000 people are engaged in legal battles for justice.

The top 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.

“We need a proper record of all the surviving victims,” he told ucanews.com.

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,” he said.

The survivors “need proper housing, medical care, food, clothing and care,” he said, adding that the state should not waste time in “lengthy legal battles.”

The prelate also offered the Church’s help and expertise in conducting a fresh survey.