India’s High Court Demands End to Delay in Bhopal Pay-Out
Jul 26th, 2004 • Posted in: NewsBHOPAL, India
After years of dragging its feet, India’s government was ordered last week to end its legal wrangling and make immediate plans to disburse nearly $330 million to victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
The accidental release of toxic gas used to make pesticides at Union Carbide’s plant in 1984 killed nearly 4,000 people instantly. Over 20,000 others have died from related illnesses, and 120,000 remain chronically ill, reported the Reuters news agency.
Union Carbide, which was later bought by Dow Chemical Co., paid $470 million in compensation in 1989, though nearly 70 percent of the funds have been withheld by the government, which said it needed time to sort through legal claims filed by victims and their families.
India’s highest court last week said that plaintiffs had waited long enough — 20 years — and that the government had to take immediate action to try to ameliorate their hardship.
The court ordered the government to release the outstanding balance — roughly $325.5 million — under an expedited schedule, saying a report would be required within two to three months, according to the Agence France-Presse.
If anything good is to be found in the two-decade delay, it may be that the value of the withheld funds has risen considerably since 1989 due to currency fluctuations and interest, noted Reuters.
Print This Story
Email This Story
[...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 26, 2004 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 24, 2003 — Related Newsline story, [...]