In December 2009, the Center for Science and Environment in Delhi, released a report acknowledging what those living in the shadow of the old Union Carbide pesticide factory already know- their water and soil is highly contaminated. Extreme levels of pesticides and hard metals like mercury and lead are being recorded in the aquifers as far away as 3kms from the plant, leading to the chronic poisoning of thousands of residents living in the bustling neighborhoods around the factory.
It has been 25-years since 40,000 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) escaped from the factory in Bhopal killing thousands of people, and it has been 25-years that the local residents have been asking for the factory to be cleaned up and decontaminated. Neither the Indian government who own the land, nor DOW Chemical, who now own the factory, have taken on the responsibility and new generations, including families who weren’t in the area during the gas-explosion, are being born with disabilities and chronic ailments directly attributed to the water and soil around them.
