Bhopal and Gulf: More than Spatial and Temporal Distance

Bhopal Gas leak was the world’s worst industrial disaster, Gulf oil leak is America’s worst environmental disaster. Bhopal gas leak in 1984 resulted in 5000 to 8000 casualties, including thousands suffering after-effects for several years. Gulf oil leak began in May 2010 with the death of 11 people and the impact on natural life is yet to be ascertained.
After 26 years, seven people accused in the Bhopal case were awarded two years of imprisonment and each was supposed to pay Rs.100,000 as fine. The convicted were released on bail the same day. The U.S. is preparing to launch criminal charges against the BP, including the highest ranking officials.

Some media channels in India are comparing the U.S. response to Bhopal and Gulf as display of America’s double standards. The U.S. refuses to extradite Warren Anderson, the man who headed Union Carbide at the time of the Bhopal gas tragedy, to India. On the other hand, President Obama is personally involved in ensuring that the oil spill is controlled and the guilty are punished.
More than a display of America’s double standards, the Bhopal and Gulf case comparison is a reminder of the weakness of India’s political and legal system.

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Issues like Bhopal gas tragedy, Dantewada massacre, poor official response to loss of lives due to regular flooding, death of 160 people in airline crash, rarely, if ever, matter to the electorate and never impact electoral outcomes. The political leadership is not pressured to take fast and effective action for such human tragedies because these serve nothing more than fodder for the 24×7 news cycle.
Fortunately the media coverage does arouse, even though temporarily, public concern for collective and individual tragedies. In many instances public activism has pushed the country’s legal system to act impartiality. Former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, serving an 18-month sentence in Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, was convicted following media and public outcry. Conviction of Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case followed a similar trajectory.

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British Petroleum has already paid 69 million dollars, just as first installment for the damages caused. That figure could multiply several times, with the company’s liability still being decided. In contrast, Union Carbide paid just $ 470 million in compensation for the deaths it caused. That’s less than $500 dollars per victim, insufficient even to cover medical treatment costs for those who survived.

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Would BP pay the same amount had the oil leak affected the Bay of Bengal? Or would the Union Carbide’s response be the same had the gas leak occurred on American soil?