• by IPS Correspondents (bhopal)
• Friday, December 09, 1994
• Inter Press Service

BHOPAL, Dic 09 (IPS) - TEN YEARS AFTER BEING HIT BY THE WORLD'S WORST INDUSTRIAL DISASTER, THIS CENTRAL INDIAN CITY SEEMS TO BE HEADING FOR A SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRISIS, IRONICALLY FUELLED BY MONETARY RELIEF FOR THE SURVIVORS.

INDICATIONS OF THE CRISIS ARE BEGINNING TO EMERGE IN THE ONE MILLION-STRONG CITY IN THE WAKE OF DISBURSEMENT OF SOME 112 MILLION DOLLARS AS COMPENSATION FOR THE LEAKAGE OF TOXIC GAS FROM THE TRANSNATIONAL UNION CARBIDE'S PESTICIDE FACTORY ON THE NIGHT OF DEC 2/3 1984, THAT HAS CLAIMED 4,000 LIVES SO FAR AND INJURED THOUSANDS MORE.

RAM SHANKAR TIWARI, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AT THE GOVERNMENT- RUN ACADEMY OF ADMINISTRATION HERE SAYS MOST OF THE FALLOUT OF THE RELIEF DISTRIBUTION HAS BEEN NEGATIVE. "IT SEEMS TO HAVE SPELT MORE HARM THAN GOOD BOTH ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY," HE SAYS.

TIWARI, WHO ALONG WITH HIS COLLEAGUES CONDUCTED A SURVEY ON 21,000 SURVIVORS BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THEY GOT RELIEF TO ASSESS ITS IMPACT, SAID THE AVAILABILITY OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF CASH HAD FUELLED INFLATIONARY PRESSURES MAKING BHOPAL ONE OF THE COSTLIEST CITIES IN INDIA.

"THE INFLATION RATE OF COMMODITIES HAS BEEN BETWEEN EIGHT AND 20 PERCENT," TIWARI SAID. HE WAS, HOWEVER, QUICK TO CLARIFY THAT THERE WAS NO QUESTION OF BEING OPPOSED TO THE DISBURSEMENT OF RELIEF.

HE SAID WHAT WAS WRONG WAS THE METHOD IN WHICH THE RELIEF WAS BEING DISTRIBUTED. "THERE IS HARDLY ANY REASON FOR THE DISBURSEMENT OF RELIEF IN CASH, EXCEPT FOR SOME AMOUNT FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT," HE SAYS.

HE SAYS HIS REPORT HAD SUGGESTED THAT THE MONEY BE UTILISED TO BUY INSURANCE POLICIES OR GOVERNMENT BONDS FOR THE VICTIMS. AUTHORITIES ALSO COULD HAVE MADE THE RELIEF CONDITIONAL ON THE PEOPLE STARTING SOME KIND OF ENTERPRISE WITH THE MONEY THEY WOULD GET, HE SAID.

ALTHOUGH THE REPORT WAS SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNMENT IN 1991, IT HAS YET TO BE MADE PUBLIC.

TIWARI SAYS THE PROVISION OF INTERIM RELIEF HAS HAD A PARALYTIC EFFECT ON WORK INITIATIVE. ALL THOSE WHO WERE SELF- EMPLOYED BEFORE THE DISASTER HAD SOLD OFF THEIR ASSETS AND WERE LIVING OFF THE MONEY. "ONCE THEY BLOW UP THE MONEY, THEY TURN INTO WAGE EARNERS," SAYS TIWARI.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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