None of its owners since the Bhopal gas tragedy is willing to own up to the equity, present or past.
The world’s worst industrial disaster has turned out to be a pitch for fascinating buck-passing.
At the moment, we have at least three corporate entities playing pass-the-parcel, apart from the state agencies.
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), the former parent of Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), has completely distanced itself from the Indian entity, in which it held a 50.9 per cent stake at the time of the disaster. Now bought over by Dow Chemicals Company, but yet retaining its identity, UCC says the Brij Mohan Khaitan-controlled Eveready Industries India should be asked any questions on liability.
The online Bhopal Information Centre provided by UCC says that if the court decides to apply the ‘polluter pays’ principle while fixing responsibility for the clean-up of toxic stuff at the site, then the legal responsibility would lie with UCIL. Only, that means Eveready India today, it adds.
“If the court responsible for directing clean-up efforts ultimately applies the ‘polluter pays’ principle, it would seem that legal responsibility would fall to Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), which leased the land, operated the site and was a separate, publicly traded Indian company when the Bhopal tragedy occurred. In 1994, Union Carbide sold its interest in UCIL, with the approval of the Supreme Court. The company was renamed Eveready Industries India Ltd and remains a viable company today,” says UCC on the site in the updated information of November 2009.
UCC exited in 1994
Some background here: in 1994, UCC sold its entire stake in UCIL to McLeod Russell (India) Ltd, part of the Williamson Magor group, which renamed the company EIIL and took charge of the battery business. UCIL owned, operated and managed the Bhopal plant. UCC held just over half the stock, while the balance was with financial institutions and public.
Nonsense, says Eveready of UCC’s ask-them standpoint. “Eveready is neither responsible for the pollution as reported, nor is it liable for the clean-up of the toxic material. It may thus be noted that Eveready cannot be involved in any clean-up action. If at all, the Williamson Magor group believes the liability for clean-up should rest with the then owners of UCIL, viz UCC USA,” said a top Eveready official.
Eveready officials say that after the accident, the plant at Bhopal was closed permanently and all licences cancelled by the government. The Bhopal plant had ceased to an asset in the books at the time of acquisition of shares by the Williamson Magor group. Moreover, the land lease was revoked by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1998.
However, Eveready has been impleaded in the public interest suit filed in 2004. It was filed against the Union of India, the state of Madhya Pradesh, the MP Pollution Control Board and Dow Chemicals, among others, for clean-up of the toxic material from the plant at Bhopal. UCIL and UCC USA have also been impleaded.
Dow ducks
While UCC has steered clear of responsibility towards UCIL, Dow Chemicals has distanced itself from UCC’s liabilities.
“When Dow acquired the shares of Union Carbide Corporation, UCC was no longer doing business in India. And, another important fact to note is that Union Carbide remains a separate entity, with a separate board, separate financial reporting, and its own employees. Contrary to what activists continue to misrepresent, UCC manages its own liabilities. The Dow Chemical Company has never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal, nor does Dow have responsibility for any liability related to Bhopal,” said a spokesperson for Dow. Odd, given that UCC happens to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow.
Responding to a query on the clean-up responsibility, the spokesperson said the state government of Madhya Pradesh revoked the lease of Eveready Industries India Limited—formerly UCIL—in 1998 and took control of the site. “The state owns the site today and the solution to this problem rests in the hands of the Indian central and state government,” said Dow.
The empowered group of ministers, originally set up in 2008, was reconstituted recently with Home Minister P Chidambaram at its head. About two months before, after the devastating Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh, the minister had accepted full responsibility and said, “The buck stops at my desk”. It will have to be seen whether the ministerial report to be given to the Prime Minister can avoid another round of buck-passing.
