777 Bhopal Medical Appeal
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
777 The Bhopal Medical Appeal Newsletter Summer 2011 The Chingari expansion Inside view of the Rehabilitation Centre Water Crisis The ongoing disaster Bhopali Exclusive interview with the director of this major new documentary Glastonbury Raising awareness at Europe’s biggest music festival The Bhopal Medical Appeal
The Bhopal Medical Appeal Newsletter The Bhopal Medical Appeal Summer 2011 Contents Who are we? The Bhopal Medical Appeal exists to bring first-class medical help to the survivors of the Bhopal gas and water disasters. We are the Bhopal survivors, Sambhavna and Chingari staff in Bhopal, charity staff in Brighton and a worldwide network of donors, volunteers, supporters and fundraisers – all equal, all together. Our Newsletter is called 777 – saat saat saat in Hindi and Urdu – which, with a slight twist of the tongue, also means together, together, together. 4 The Chingari Expansion Moving to a larger premises means the Rehabilitation Centre can help more children Bhopal: The background story 8 Water: On that night of horror (December 2-3rd, 1984) a cloud of gas, 500 times The Ongoing Crisis more toxic than cyanide, leaked from a factory in Bhopal belonging to Despite some beneficial changes, the Union Carbide Corporation, causing the hideous deaths of thousands Colin Toogood discovers there are and creating more than quarter of a century of severe suffering for the still major problems survivors and their children. Today in Bhopal, well over 100,000 people are chronically sick from the effects of that night, while some 30,000 more are ill because their water is polluted by the derelict plant, which has never 10 Bhopali been cleaned up. In addition, this injustice has never been righted and the Exclusive interview with Van crimes involved remain unpunished. Maximilian Carlson about his new documentary Editor/Writer/Producer: John May 12 Glastonbury Design: Hazel Bennington Contributors: Text: Colin Toogood Highlights of the BMA’s Photography: Alex Masi/Focus for Humanity, experiences at this important Jack Laurenson, Raghu Rai, Roz Shearn awareness-raising event Printer: Millennia Print Ltd, Crowborough Distributor: Synergy Group, Burgess Hill The Bhopal Medical Appeal is a Registered Charity. 14 Digital Bhopal Charity No. 1117526 Online ways of helping the BMA with its work As we were going to press, we received news that Alex Masi and the BMA have received a $15,000 Getty Images Grants for Good award. This is designed to 15 Sambhavna Cover photo: Sanna at Chingari enable photographers to bring attention to significant Latest news of exciting Jack Laurenson social and cultural issues. Full details in next issue. developments Please help with a donation Cheques www.bhopal.org The Bhopal Medical Appeal, Unit 2, The Foundry See how much good your gift does and donate 8/9 St. George’s Mews, Brighton BN1 4EU or direct online. Freepost, The Bhopal Medical Appeal Gift Aid To save us the postage please omit Freepost and affix a stamp Please let us know if we can Gift Aid your Legacies donation. This significantly increases the value Those being born damaged will need care for of your gift at no cost to yourself. the rest of their lives, so leaving a legacy is a You must pay UK taxes. great way to continue helping. Regular giving For credit card donations please call: An extremely valuable way to help. Please call the office on 01273 603 278. Freefone 0800 316 5577 2 | www.bhopal.org
This little girl Manakshi may look like a three- year old but she is in fact “Iqui offic Alex Masi/Focus for Humanity seven. Manakshi suffers torrorrore net from a growth disorder magnim est ipsam and has been undergoing autempo ritatem treatment at Chingari for the last two years. When si rem autet she first arrived, she was rem sed quist ra unresponsive and could sedigen itiore hardly walk. Now she can evendaecus.” walk, chat and play. A time of mixed fortunes welcome to the hitting presentation of the complex story of Summer edition of the Bhopal disaster and its aftermath. our Newsletter. As I write these words the last few months have seen I am just back from further frustrations in the long legal and this year’s Glastonbury political struggle to bring those responsible Festival. As reported in for the disaster to justice, to improve the “The last few months the last issue, Michael Eavis, the Festival’s levels of compensation provided to Bhopal have seen further founder, has become one of our patrons. survivors and to tackle the remediation of frustrations in As a result, the BMA has acquired a much the factory site. the long legal higher profile at the event, enabling us to In our Winter 2010 Newsletter, spread awareness of the Bhopal disaster to we reported on the trial of the eight and political a broader audience. Full report inside. Union Carbide India Ltd (UciL) ex- struggle to bring In this edition we focus on two main employees, charged with causing “death those responsible issues: the expansion of Chingari and the by negligence”. The derisory sentences for the disaster ongoing water crisis in Bhopal. and fines imposed by the court triggered to justice, to We take you inside the new Chingari a nationwide outrage. This April, attempts improve the levels Rehabilitation Centre, now located in were made to persuade India’s Supreme of compensation larger premises provided by the State Court to reinstate the original charge of provided to Bhopal government. As before, all running costs “manslaughter”, which carries much higher survivors and are covered by funding from the BMA. This penalties. The request was denied. to tackle the will enable Chingari to expand its valuable The Supreme Court will, in the coming remediation of the work and help four times the number of months, consider two thorny issues children than before. relating to compensation. Firstly, the initial factory site.” The BMA’s Colin Toogood reports payments made to Bhopal survivors were first-hand on the water crisis in the inadequate and it will be argued that they poor neighbourhoods surrounding the should be substantially increased. The abandoned plant. Despite assurances Court will also hear evidence regarding the from the state government, he found that questionable decision-making process that the water supply situation is still very was set up to decide who was eligible for unreliable. As a result, large numbers of compensation. Many needy people have people are having to drink polluted water – been excluded for no good reason. at great risk to their personal health. As for the site remediation, Dow We are happy to bring news of an Chemical still refuses to accept legal important new documentary film – responsibility. So who is going to pay for ‘Bhopali’ by Van Maximilian Carlson – the clean-up? Until the legal stalemate which we hope will be widely available in surrounding this issue is resolved, tens of the near future. The first feature of a young thousands of Bhopalis and their families filmmaker, this self-funded movie has will continue to suffer. They need your already won several awards for its hard- continued help and support. Peter Finnigan Executive Secretary www.bhopal.org | 3
The Chingari expansio Photos: Alex Masi/ Focus for Humanity I t was another busy morning at Chingari when Tarun Thomas, the The Chingari already seen an increase in the number of children coming for treatment and also Centre’s manager, took time out from Rehabilitation Centre in the number of people offering their his busy schedule to speak to us on has relocated to larger voluntary services. “People are pouring the phone from Bhopal. in,” says Tarun, “They want to come and Tarun supervises the staff, premises on a more join us, to help in many manners.” the organisation’s logistics and its prominent site, with the As well as healing the children, the rehabilitation work, which includes Centre tries to aid the parents by finding physiotherapy, occupational therapy, help of financial support them some economic activity they can do speech therapy and educational classes. from the BMA. This will so they can provide for their families. Tarun was born in Kerala but was There is an outreach programme to brought up in the Bhopal area. He enable them to increase provide treatment at a community level was outside India at the time of the the number of children for children who are too sick to come into disaster. He previously worked for CARE the clinic. In such cases, the child is often International, on a project providing they are able to help kept hidden away like a family secret. supplementary nutrition for under- “In Indian society,” says Tarun, “it is nourished village children. “When I The Centre’s new premises has been really difficult for the parents to show they was transferred away from home I was provided by the State Government of have a disabled child at home because not happy and I thought I should look Madhya Pradesh, its running costs being their daughters may not get married for another job. One of my friends said covered by the BMA. because of it.” that Chingari needed At the time we spoke, construction Specialists from Chingari not only a manager so I got work was still in progress. The building is give the child regular physiotherapy interested, started laid out in a linear fashion with separate but also counsel the parents as to how work, and I can’t leave treatment rooms leading off a wide they can better manage their disabled it now.” corridor which is the main social space. child at home by treating them in a The Centre has Here the children and their mothers have normal manner. 16 core staff and a the chance to be among others and share “Setting up an office is a difficult one. number of outside their problems. There is a kitchen which Everything is in an unsettled manner specialists. So far provides the children and their parents right now” says Tarun. “We can’t avoid they have identified with one nutritious meal a day. the children because they 334 children in A British volunteer has also require regular physiotherapy the worst-affected designed a garden daily and we can’t skip that. neighbourhoods who are suffering The new building is on a So it’s really difficult to get from congenital deformities. Of these, main road which has made them settled and get the staff 130 are registered at the Centre. On an Chingari much more visible to manage them properly. But average day, 50 to 90 children attend to a broader population. we have coped and are almost the Centre. As a result, they have settled now.” 4 | www.bhopal.org
Chingari Clinic on (Left) Gentle (Below/Far Left) occupational Examples of therapy brings a physical therapy smile to the face techniques used at of this young girl Chingari (Above) A communal occupational therapy class helps increase the children’s social and communication skills. (Left/Above) (Left) Healing Boys at Chingari hands at work, receiving electrical helping a boy stimulation suffering with and vibrational both physical and treatment. mental difficulties. www.bhopal.org | 5
The Chingari Rehabilitation Centre staff Rasheeda Bee Managing Trustee (founder member) Tarun Thomas Kapil Parmar Champa Devi Shukla Manager Speech Therapist Managing Trustee (founder member) Rishabh Kumar Prabhakar Nagle Deepa Mandal Intern Speech Therapist Field Worker Mohd. Israil Khan Kalpana Rohar Tarique Ahmed Accountant Asst. Physiotherapist Special Educator Vidhya Bangde Nousheen Khan Usha Tilwani Field Worker Speech Therapist Health Worker Nafeesa Bee Sanjay Gaur Poonam Bichpuriya Aayah Physiotherapist Occupational Therapist Rani Yadav Deepesh Dwivedi Arvind Motghare Caretaker Assistant P-T Special Educator 6 | www.bhopal.org
Chingari Clinic Community meetings (Left) Chingari has identified and provided treatment for hundreds of children but they are well aware that this is just a small fraction of the likely numbers of affected children in the communities around the plant. This is why they have instituted community meetings where mothers bring in their children to be assessed by Chingari health specialists to see whether they have medical problems. If so, they help the parents to register the child as disabled. Chingari has limited capacity but will admit children to the clinic if the parents are too poor to care for them or if their need is urgent. (Below) Chingari’s fleet of vans are a vital part of Chingari’s outreach services. Many children would be unable to reach the clinic without them. The Chingari garden plan Work has begun to transform a barren space at the front of Chingari’s new building into a wonderful sensory therapeutic garden, based on an imaginative plan by designer Annette Murray. www.bhopal.org | 7
Water The ongoing crisis Colin Toogood of the BMA provides a firsthand eye-witness report on the appalling water situation in Bhopal Photos: Alex Masi/Focus for Humanity following year and it was plain that it was not fit for purpose. The piping system was rudimentary and laid along the ground, making it easily ruptured. The tanks themselves were never maintained or cleaned. More importantly, the tanker supply was intermittent. One of my main purposes on this trip was to go back to one particular neighbourhood – Atal Ayub Nagar – a dry, dusty strip of land sandwiched between the main railway line and the walls of the abandoned factory. The people here are poor and the houses are mostly built from wood, plastic sacks, cow dung, corrugated concrete and metal sheets. On my last visit I was told that, as the water tanks were only filled sporadically, many of the families were forced to use one of the two government hand pumps. They complained that the water smelled of chemicals and had a bad metallic taste but they told me they had no choice but T to drink it. Water from these pumps has (Above) Woman collecting he newspapers in Bhopal subsequently been tested by several water from the government are full of stories about the organisations, including Greenpeace and hand pump in A.A. Nagar and ongoing water shortage (most recently) by the Centre for Science (above right) carrying problems across the and Environment in New Delhi. They all it home. city. Less often reported found that the water contains dangerous are the problems of the levels of pesticides and solvents. Our own (Far right) Women wait their city’s poorest people living in the slum BMA survey showed that levels of turn at one of the water tanks in A.A. Nagar amidst a sea of neighbourhoods (bastis) around the carbon tetrachloride alone were containers. abandoned Union Carbide pesticide 4,000 times higher than the plant, many of whom are World Health Organisation’s still drinking chemically- safe limits. contaminated water on a When I arrived back in daily basis. A.A. Nagar in May this As reported in our year, the temperature was last issue, the State a scorching 45 degrees. We Government only felt constantly dehydrated and began laying pipelines were carrying bottles filled with and arranging regular water water from the sophisticated deliveries by tanker truck filtration system at the in 2008. I surveyed much of Sambhavna Clinic. this new supply infrastructure the The inhabitants of A.A. Nagar 8 | www.bhopal.org
Water issues “There could be as many as 400 families competing for each delivery.” have no such safe supply. Residents told us that tanker trucks were now rarely seen Private water pumps In A.A. Nagar and other affected and that the water tanks might be filled communities, some residents have their every 2-3 days in good times but only own hand pump which enables them to every 8-10 days in bad. When the water draw water from a shallow aquifer. This did arrive, there might be as many as 400 water is almost certainly contaminated. families competing for it. When the public tanks have not Since I was last here, the dusty been filled, these well-owners come main track has been roughly concreted under pressure to supply friends and with water pipes laid alongside. The neighbours. Such is the demand, that piped supply is intermittent. We saw some residents are reduced to having groups of people clustering round a to pay for poisoned water from these private pumps. hole in the ground, drawing water from a pipe that had ruptured – or been punctured deliberately. As for the two government hand pumps, one was out of order while the other was still in regular use. Many of the residents we spoke to confirmed that they still have to use water from this source when the main tanks run dry. www.bhopal.org | 9
A remarkable documentary by a young American filmmaker brings the story of the survivors of the Bhopal chemical disaster to a new audience Max Carlson (right) with Sanjay Verma, whose personal story is highlighted in the film. V an Maximilian Carlson (Max be our guide and translator. At that time, “I became curious to his friends) is a modest we didn’t know about his own personal about the whole man who has achieved story which became an important part story and something remarkable. of the film. Similarly, the story of the Entirely self-funded, he 18-month old baby Saiba Babu, born with discovered there conceived, filmed, edited and directed a severe birth defects who while we were wasn’t an adequate full-length feature documentary on the there, had to be taken into hospital where documentary about Bhopal survivors and their children, which she died. We met the family because they has already won numerous film festival happened to live near Sambhavna.” it so I decided to awards. “Then, when we returned to the US and make one.” Based in Los Angeles, he had acquired to edit the footage, we realised that we a lot of film editing experience and made needed to include the story of the Bhopal a number of short films by the age of activists and their struggle for justice and 24 when he first heard about Bhopal. explain more about the legal situation Over the Skype line he tells me: “I got to with Union Carbide and Dow Chemical hear about it through a friend of mine in order to provide a context. So we went who volunteered at Sambhavna and had back during the 25th anniversary and recorded a lot of audio interviews with filmed the demonstrations outside Dow’s women who had been affected by the gas. HQ in Chennai and the press conferences She asked me to edit them for a radio featuring Dominic Lapierre (the author piece and I spent six months on it, during of Five Past Midnight in Bhopal) and the which time I became curious about the US lawyer who is fighting the survivors’ whole story and discovered there wasn’t compensation case. an adequate documentary about it so I “The whole experience was a powerful decided to make one.” one for me but two things stand out. He described his first ever trip to India, When we first visited Chingari we spent in the company of producer Kirk Palayan, a week playing with the children before as “an eye-opening experience”. Filming we started filming and one of the mothers everything himself, he admits that “it thought we were doctors and asked if we does take a toll on you, emotionally and could help her son. I found it sad that I physically.” couldn’t do more. It rings out in my mind. The film was not, at that stage, fully “Then, when we filmed Saiba in the formed in his mind. “The only idea I had hospital, that was overwhelming, difficult was that I knew I wanted to tell the story and scary. We were filming illegally with a of the Chingari Trust with a side focus on small camera. The hospital was run down, Sambhavna. All the other stories in the understaffed and had rats running around.’ film, I just came across or discovered as I Release details for ‘Bhopali’ are still went along.” being finalised. “The best example of this is when we Check www.bhopalithemovie.com for met Sanjay Verma, who was supposed to latest news. 10 | www.bhopal.org
Bhopali (Below) Scenes from the demonstrations outside Dow’s HQ in Chennai to mark the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. Mita Manish with her son Sidesh (left) and other children (below) at the Chingari Rehabilitation Centre. “When we filmed Saiba in the hospital that was overwhelming, difficult and scary.” (Left) Baby Saiba Babu receiving treatment in a Bhopal hospital www.bhopal.org | 11
Activities The BMA@ Glast nbury Raising awareness of Bhopal at the 2011 biggest music festival in Europe Photos: Roz Shearn I t may have rained all week, reducing throughout the festival, alongside films together with a large white skull as a the site to a sea of mud, but the sun from Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid. symbol of Dow Chemical and the suffering finally came out on Saturday and the The centrepiece of our site was a of the Bhopali survivors. atmosphere was fantastic as 180,000 beautiful Indian marquee. Here The basic form of the figures was an people gathered to celebrate this visitors were able to relax, drink chai armature covered with chicken wire, to extraordinary annual event. and find out about the story of Bhopal. which were attached bits of recycled plastic Thanks to the fact that Glastonbury’s Literally thousands of people came to visit, bottles covered with fabric. We recruited founder Michael Eavis, is now a BMA including many of our existing supporters. literally hundreds of volunteers keen to patron, our presence at this year’s Festival What was most impressive were the huge help us bring the family to life and a fine was significantly enhanced. Not only did we numbers of young people who were really sight it was, particularly at night when they have a bigger, well-located space as our HQ interested to find out what was going on were all lit up. but we were also one of the few charities who and keen to get involved. Our other major theme was to make a were asked to make a three-minute film to Costume designer Holly Murray created link between cleaning up Glastonbury promote our activities. This was shown on a sculpture garden containing a series and cleaning up Bhopal. We did this in all the main stages between performances of statues representing a Bhopal family two ways. (Top) The mother and child sculpture, made of strips of fabric and recycled material, was inspired by the Bhopal memorial, sculpted by Ruth Waterman, which stands outside the UCC factory gates in Bhopal. “My intention with the Bhopal Sculpture Garden was to convey that if enough individuals join together to become a formidable force that cannot be ignored, just like the tiny strips of fabric and bottle halves that make up our glowing mother and child and the rest of the sculpture garden. Dow Chemicals will be forced to sit up, take notice and be held accountable.” Holly Murray 12 | www.bhopal.org
Firstly, we recruited 80 litter-pickers in who previously ran a skin care business. THANK YOU advance of the Festival who got a free ticket He manufactured for us an alcohol-free, in exchange for working throughout the toxin-free skin cleanser that we dispensed Holly Murray (Concept/Design); Alan Williams (Armatures); Roz festival, from 6 to 12 am, cleaning up all the with specially-labelled hand sanitisers. Shearn(Filming/Photography); litter from the front of the Pyramid stage In the muddy environment this proved Jason Farey (Sound); before the day’s performances. extremely popular with the passing Ady Reilly (Lighting/Security); As the mud was as deep as a wellington crowds and gave us a perfect Liz Campbell (Site Manager) boot you can imagine this was not a opportunity to talk to people Volunteer team: Charlotte Brown, Jade pleasant task. Their sterling efforts will about cleaning up Bhopal. van Drie-Brown, Harriett Parsons, Annie have raised some £10,000 for us, providing The BMA staff and Macadam, Annabelle Le Clercq, Tazz Khan, a major contribution to the BMA’s costs for volunteers worked night and Lorraine Close, Charlotte Talley and the the event. day. It was well worth the children of St Luke’s primary school Our other clean-up strategy was an idea effort and was a fantastic Special thanks to Fiona Case of the hatched by our administrator Georgina experience that none of us Glastonbury Festival who made it all and our finance manager Malcolm, will forget. possible. (Above) Two volunteers help construct the white skull; Daytime view of the water- carrying woman; the full set of the illuminated sculptures at night. (Left and below) The BMA team on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury; Singer/Songrwriter Billy Bragg with BMA volunteer; BMA volunteers dance Indian style. www.bhopal.org | 13
Activities Digital Bhopal Legacies www.bhopal.org l As a supporter of the people of Bhopal, you have been a major force in the growth of Sambhavna Clinic and the Chingari Rehabilitation Centre. From reading these pages, you will also know that need for free, first-class health care in Bhopal will be there for many years to come. We want to safeguard the future of Sambhavna as a centre of international excellence and work with them to share their knowledge with the rest of the world. This spring, we wrote to as many of our supporters as possible, asking them to consider leaving a legacy to the Bhopal Medical Appeal. The reaction to our initial appeal has been tremendous and we would like Our new website was launched in November 2010, designed by the to thank all of you who have Brighton-based web company Safe As Milk already responded and urge new supporters to consider remembering Bhopal in your will. Please contact Peter Finnigan at Social networking the BMA office if you would like In addition to the new website the BMA has also been getting involved in to discuss this. many of the popular social media and networking sites – with interesting results. This sort of online activity is a great way of raising awareness; it’s also proving a really effective way of promoting our activities and fundraising. Committed giving Please take a look at what we are doing and remember that this sort of l We urge all of our supporters to online activity is most effective when users spread the word! consider setting up a direct debit or standing order to The Bhopal Medical Appeal. For us to be really Facebook: To join our Facebook page, log into The Bhopal Medical Appeal effective with our planning, it is vital for us to know how much Twitter: To follow us on Twitter, search for BhopalMedAppeal of our income is guaranteed. YouTube: To view our channel, search for The Bhopal Medical Appeal Committed regular giving allows us that advantage. Flickr: To view our photos, search for The Bhopal Medical Appeal If you would like to help us in this way, please call us on 01273 603278 or visit www.bhopal.org. Raise money for the BMA in some cases); cartridges will be worth just by doing a web search £1 each to the BMA. Recycle4Charity You can also raise money for the will supply you with pre-paid envelopes Bhopal Medical Appeal by doing your web searches through www.everyclick. for both items. If you use a lot of ink cartridges (or can organise a collection A big com. Each search earns us around a penny and with enough supporters, at your office), they’ll even send you a box to put them all in and make thank you this will provide us with another arrangement to collect them from you. The Bhopal Medical Appeal owes valuable regular income stream for the its existence to the generous BMA. Please use Everyclick and also Just Giving donations of individuals, support encourage your family and friends to We also encourage any of our groups and charitable trust take part. supporters, who are fundraising for funds. These are too numerous us, to use the ‘Just Giving’ website. to mention individually but in our Make money for the BMA It’s a really easy way to set up your next issue we will highlight some by recycling! own online fundraising page and only of the fantastic efforts people All you have to do is click on the takes a few minutes. There’s a built-in around the country have made ‘Recycle4Charity.co.uk’ link on our payment mechanism and the money on our behalf. Our sincere thanks website and follow the instructions goes straight into our bank account. go out to you all for your loyal support. on the page. All mobile phones have Please call us if you would like help some recycling value (as much as £30 with this process. 14 | www.bhopal.org
Sambhavna Clinic The Sambhavna Clinic will be celebrating its 15th Anniversary in September this year by staging a three-day multi-disciplinary conference on Industrial Toxicology, Environmental Health and Integrative Healthcare. This will bring together some 100 delegates from India and abroad to discuss the latest developments in medical research and the variety of treatment strategies being used to provide effective healthcare for toxic-affected communities worldwide. Sambhavna has, in addition, submitted five research proposals to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in the hope of obtaining funding to study the long-term health effects of MIC gas – the deadly chemical released from the damaged Bhopal plant – on the local population. We will present a full report in our next issue. Alex Masi The majority of the photographs in this issue have been taken by photojournalist Alex Masi who was the winner of the 2011 NGO Assignment Fellowship from the non-governmental organisation Focus For Humanity, a not-for- profit organisation that provides grants to photographers to carry out assignments that document the plight of the world’s most vulnerable peoples. This award is enabling Alex to take a number of trips to India during the course of this year to further document the ongoing Bhopal disaster. See: www. focusforhumanity.org and www.alexmasi.co.uk www.bhopal.org | 15
Raghu Rai/Magnum Photos The Bhopal Medical Appeal For Credit Card donations please call: 0800 316 5577 or visit www.bhopal.org Contact us tel 01273 603 278 • email admin@bhopal.org • web www.bhopal.org The Bhopal Medical Appeal, Unit 2, The Foundry, 8-9 St George’s Mews, Brighton BN1 4EU The Bhopal Medical Appeal is a Registered Charity. Charity No. 1117526
You can also read