Siliconeer :: A General Interest Magazine for South Asians in U.S.

!-- Start Alexa Certify Javascript --> !-- Start Alexa Certify Javascript --> Siliconeer :: A General Interest Magazine for South Asians in U.S.

A General Interest Monthly Magazine for South Asians in the U.S.

Current Issue

Mobile

Past eMags

eMagazine

Videos

Advertisers

Media Kit

Archives

ADVERTISEMENTS

PREMIUM

CLASSIFIEDS

MULTIMEDIA VIDEO

ENVIRONMENT:
March for Justice: Bhopal Survivors

Bhopal gas disaster survivors have begun 33-day-long march to Delhi. The journey to the prime minister’s office will cover over 500 miles, and U.S. supporters plan solidarity action. A Siliconeer report.

(Top): Bhopal disaster survivors and their supporters on a 500-mile march to Delhi. (Bottom): Delhi may be far, but supporters of Bhopal disaster survivors are determined to get there.

Survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster have begun a padyatra protest march Feb. 20 to Indian government headquarters in Delhi, charging the government with rampant malfeasance amid its ongoing, documented collusion with Dow Chemical.

Nearly half a million people were exposed to poisonous methyl isocyanate during a runaway chemical reaction at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal on December 3rd, 1984. Since then, more than 22,000 people have died and 150,000 survivors continue to be chronically ill, as the government has repeatedly failed to properly address atrocities brought on by the world’s worst industrial disaster.

As a result, survivors are pressing top tiers of government for fresh plans to end the suffering. Demands include the establishment of a Special Commission on Bhopal to ensure proper medical care, safe drinking water, and more, for all affected people in Bhopal. Concurrently, the government must take legal action forcing Dow, the company responsible for the disaster after purchasing Union Carbide in 2001, to remediate the disaster site and surrounding areas.

Starting in Bhopal, marchers will power through more than 500 miles in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, with brief stops in Rajasthan and Haryana, on their way to Delhi.

Meantime, events to back the march will take place across the United States, organized by an international coalition of supporters. These actions will implore Indian officials in the U.S., and American authorities with ties to India’s leadership, to stop the neglect of survivors.

Areas near the factory remain heavily polluted with chromium, copper, naphthol and other poisons left behind when Carbide abandoned its property following the disaster. These chemicals have leached into the local water supply; soil testing reveals mercury levels far exceeding international safety standards.

Now, second-generation disaster survivors, many of whom are small children, are forced to cope with the chemical fallout. The incidence of babies born with cerebral palsy, cleft lips and other birth defects is devastatingly high. Yet this is only a fraction of the severe mental and physical burden foisted on survivors.

Despite promises, the Indian government has made meager efforts to sanction Dow, and has long abandoned research to treat illnesses triggered by MIC.

“It’s time the Indian government prioritize the suffering of its people ahead of foreign investment,” says Students for Bhopal founder and coordinator Ryan Bodanyi. “So many lives have been shattered by the Indian government in collusion with Dow/Carbide. We must redress these wrongs, and prevent another half million people from suffering a similar fate.”

More information is available at www.bhopal.net.

EMAIL US: info (at) siliconeer.com | SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ONLINE BELOW

CURRENT ISSUE IN PDF
Click here to read in PDF format

COVER STORY
Firearms in America:
A Free Market for Guns, Violence
America’s free market, primitive laws and dark-age social customs are responsible for never-ending campus tragedies, writes Partha Banerjee.

ENVIRONMENT
How Poor Nations Pay:
The Environmental Cost
The environmental damage caused by rich nations costs poor nations more than their combined foreign debt, according to a UC Berkeley study. A Siliconeer report.

DIARY
Letters from My Motherland:
An India Journal
Despite the myriad frustrations — Delhi’s awful traffic jams, poor sanitation, constant honking and badmash auto rickshaw drivers — after a few months, India became her home, writes Preeti Tijoriwal.

OTHER STORIES
EDITORIAL: Gun Violence
NEWS DIARY: February
WORLD ECONOMY: BBC Global Survey
ENVIRONMENT: Bhopal Survivors March
RECOGNITION: Outstanding Engineers
SUBCONTINENT: Indian Green Energy Giant
SUBCONTINENT: Rising Rupee & Indian IT
HEALTH: Tackling Cholesterol
TRAVEL: Wide World of Fast Food
BUSINESS: News Briefs
COMMUNITY: News in Brief
INFOTECH INDIA: Round-up
AUTO REVIEW: 2008 Buick Enclave
BOLLYWOOD: Jodhaa Akbar
BOLLYWOOD: Guftugu
TAMIL CINEMA: Kaalai
RECIPE: Paneer Tikka
HOROSCOPE: March