Bhopal gas tragedy verdict shows how the acts of some corporations go unpunished in India. Unless the judiciary comes down heavily on the erring firms and impose heavy damages, things will not change.

The government should also take steps to lessen the the plight of the underprivileged who have survived Bhopal tragedy and are now living a pathetic life with serious medical conditions. Their meager compensation should be increased to a reasonable amount.

Sir — The tragic accident at NTPC's Unchahar plant, Uttar Pradesh, must serve as a wake-up call for the country as we embark on a massive industrial expansion spree. This accident is also a reminder of the poor work safety standards and lax enforcement of regulations that have led to horrific accidents earlier too.

It is high time that safety audits be conducted for all under construction projects by an independent agency so that such incidents can be avoided in the future. Safety factors should not be compromised at any cost in the rush of running the plant.

The Government should also take lessons from the blast and take punitive measures to stop such incidents in future.

Sir - The boiler blast at the Unchahar plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation should serve as a wake up call for India ("Risky prospects", Nov 8). It is embarking on the path towards becoming a developed nation, which will include massive industrial projects. The accident is a reminder of the poor safety standards and the laxity in enforcement of existing regulations in industries. These have been the reasons behind most industrial accidents in India, be it the Bhopal gas leak or the Sivakasi factory explosion.

An engineer from the Unchahar plant told the media that at the time of the blast, the temperature of the steam was 140 degrees Celsius and the pressure in the boiler was 765 kilogrammes per millimetre square. This is enough to melt a person. Around 40 labourers were directly in the path of the blast. They had been called to repair a blockage in the pipe meant for letting out excess steam. The boiler should have been shut down before people were asked to work on it, but it was kept running at half its capacity. This is a clear violation of the safety measures prescribed by the law.

Safety audits should be carried out by independent agencies that will be answerable to the government. The rush to keep a factory productive should not come at the cost of human lives.

Verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy shows that the mighty always get away with lesser sentence due to support of leading legal luminaries, weak prosecution and delay in judicial process which has come after 26 years of world’s deadliest industrial disaster in history.

The truth is that successive governments, social activists and media have done very little to lessen the plight of these under privileged souls.

The government should take steps to increase the measly compensation and provide better medical facilities for the survivors. It should also ensure that in future, such victims are adequately compensated.

India’s Law Minister Veerappa Moily has rightly said such cases should be tried in fast track courts and unless the Indian judiciary comes down strongly and imposes heavy damages in millions like in Western countries, things will not change. This is the only way to show that wrong things will not go unpunished.

The Bhopal gas tragedy verdict is a sad commentary on how our own government capitulates to MNCs and remains a mute and meek spectator even when its own people suffer and die.

Now everyone is talking about the "outrageous" verdict and the "soft" sentence, but what about the then Madhya Pradesh government that ignored several warnings about the flawed safety apparatus that actually resulted in the leak at the Union Carbide plant and killed countless people.

I refer to the story, “India’s Supreme court reviews Bhopal Sentence” (KT, Aug 31). It is very rare for the Supreme Court of India to reviews its verdicts after issuing an earlier judgement. By accepting the curative petition of the Bhopal victims for hearing, the court must have seen serious gravity of offence in the petition submitted by the Central Board of Investigation for reviewing its against 1996 judgement which diluted the offences against Union Carbide from culpable homicide not amounting to murder to causing death by negligence.

This was the worst industrial disaster in the world. In fact, this is a classical example that multinational companies are allowed to make money in India and in case of any accident will get away with meager compensation even if thousands of lives are lost.

Recent example is BP which has to pay heavy damages in billions towards compensation. To generate compensation money BP has to sell some of its equity.

Hence unless the judiciary comes down heavily and imposes heavy damages in millions, things will not change. This is the only way to show that wrong things will not go unpunished in India.

Bhopal gas tragedy verdict is a grim reminder of the fact that multinational companies are free to do business in India and in case of an accident, easily dodge accountability by paying a meager compensation not matching the magnitude of the disaster. I agree with Mr KTS Tulsi, an eminent lawyer, who said that unless the judiciary comes down hard on culprits and ensures appropriate compensation, global investors will never take the laws in India seriously.

The truth is that no Government body heeded the concerns raised by a Bhopal-based journalist who was constantly writing about safety lapses at the Union Carbide India Ltd plant. This nonchalance actually led to the world’s worst mass murder after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

It is time for the Government to help the tragedy survivors who are living with serious medical problems. An appropriate compensation will be a good step in that direction.

SIR, The 50-60 km strong winds in Mumbai which led to the collapse of a huge hoarding on Monday and killed 14 people while injuring 88 should serve as a wake-up call for all municipal and local bodies in the country. Governments should immediately intervene and order a safety audit of all billboards as there are a large number of such unauthorised or unscientifically designed structures in cities and on highways.

This is a crucial issue affecting the lives of people, as any negligence will pose a risk to the lives of citizens.

Hence the Union Government should also instruct the local bodies to see that safety is not compromised. Yours, etc.,

Ramesh G jethwani is a Veteran writer, Voracious reader, Historian and Commentator who has been writing in 21 newspapers in India and GCC countries for several decades on various subjects of importance.
His website www: rameshjethwani.com

Sir - The blasts that took place at Petlawad town in Madhya Pradesh Jhabua district have cost more than 100 lives. Explosives were illegally stockpiled in a seed and fertilizer shop located in a busy neighborhood ("Explosives lapse", Sept 14). The tragedy in Jhabua underscores the need to rein in the unlicensed trade in explosives. Law-enforcing agencies have failed to stop the rampant smuggling of explosives,which are mostly used to flatten hillocks and to carry out agricultural activities in the rocky terrain of Madhya Pradesh.

However, it is possible that they could land up in the hands of anti-social elements like the Naxalites and the terrorists. How the police allowed such a large stockpiling of illegal explosives to take place remains a mystery.

The government should take a lesson from the blast and take preventive steps to stop the smuggling in explosives.