Click to play videoThe deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on December 3, 1984, killing over 5,000 people. Many others were permanently incapacitated in the deadly accident.
The tragic incident, widely regarded as the worst industrial tragedy, happened 25 years ago but its scars are still visible.
Even today, the toxic effluent in the air is causing harm to the people of Bhopal.
CNN-IBN spoke to the Padma Bhusan Awardee and author of Five Past Midnight and Freedom at Midnight, Dominique Lapierre, who has been a strong force behind the empowerment of the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
All the proceeds of his book have been given for the rehabilitation of Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
CNN-IBN:Twenty five years later, do you feel that the same sense of anger that the people of Bhopal have not been provided justice?
Dominique Lapierre: I do and I share that anger. I spent three years of my life to write Five Minutes Past Midnight to tell how the beautiful city of Bhopal had to suffer this tragedy. I have met so many of the victims, I became friends with them. I decided to give all my royalties for the creation of a clinic called the Sambhavna Clinic, which for the first time gave an efficient treatment to some of the women who had been affected by the tragedy. But today, my anger comes from the fact that after 25 years, the toxic effluent which have been left around the factory after the night of December 3, 1984 are still there. Every time it rains, the toxic effluent go in to the underground water supply which supplies to the wells and people are obliged to drink poisoned water.
CNN-IBN: None of the Union Carbide American officials have ever testified in court. What do you think it will take to bring people like the former CEO of Union Carbide, Mr Warren Anderson to court for a full-fledged trial?
Dominique Lapierre: For me it's not to bring Mr Anderson to court. What is more important is to work on the field itself, cleaning the toxic effluent, giving medical help and support to the victims. The Sambhavna Clinic initiated by Sathyu Sarangi is a marvel. For the first time, women are given more than an 'aspirin' tablet to cure their diseases. Some of cancer of the cervix, some newborns are still malformed. We don't know for how many generations this gas will remain in the genes of the victims. We have to change the scandal in the city of Bhopal itself.
CNN-IBN:Do you believe that the Indian Government is the one to be blamed and the NGOs have had to take that space but even within the NGOs some vested interests has developed over the 25 years?
Dominique Lapierre: When I received the Padma Bhusan one year ago, I had the privilege to have a nice talk with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom I respect enormously, and I implored him to create an empowering commission to solve the problems of the victims and he had promised that they would create the commission. That commission has been created, but locally in Bhopal, I understand that some local authorities are trying to prevent this Commission to do what they should do and give the victims a possibility to exercise their rights to safety, rights to receive the compensation to which they are entitled. You have to come to Bhopal to understand what this stress represents for so many people. Some of the women victims have walked from Bhopal to Delhi to express their demands. Their demands must be heard by the Union Carbide or the Indian Government.
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