Dow, UCC puzzled by government's change of stance

Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and Dow Chemicals have taken exception to the Indian government seeking Rs7,800 crore in enhanced compensation for the Bhopal gas victims.

The two companies issued official statements yesterday stating they were puzzled by the Indian government's "abrupt turnaround" to challenge a "fair, final and irrevocable settlement" for $470 million arrived at in 1989.

The statements, issued from Houston and Michigan in the US, respectively, came hours after the Supreme Court's taking on board the government's curative petition for over Rs7,800 crore in enhanced compensation for victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Both the companies wondered why the government had chosen to re-open the compensation issue when the Welfare Commissioner - the official in charge of overseeing compensation for Bhopal victims - had as recently as November 2010 filed an affidavit in the SC urging it against the same. According to UCC, nothing had occurred over the past three months to justify a change in the government's option.

Echoing UCC's views, Dow said: "What is not understandable is the abrupt turnaround in the GoI's long-held defence of the fair and final legal agreement that resolved the claims related to the tragedy."

According to Dow, the SC had twice in the past, validated the agreement and should do it again.