Former Aviation Director blames Arjun Singh’s office for Anderson’s escape
Bhopal: The controversy surrounding the role of the then Madhya Pradesh Government in letting Union Carbide Chairman
Warren Anderson escape from the city after the deadly gas leak has gained strength.
Former Aviation Director of Madhya Pradesh R.S. Sondhi has alleged that the then
State Chief Minister Arjun Singh''s office had sent orders to fly Anderson out
of the troubled zone. "At around 2 p.m. in the afternoon we received a call at
the office of the Director, Aviation, at airport (Bhopal) from the Secretariat
of the chief minister office that an aircraft has to be sent to Delhi around 4
pm. We prepared the plane accordingly, " Sondhi said. The role of the Congress
Party led government that was in power both at the center and the state at the
time of the tragedy has come under sharp criticism from the opposition parties.
The pilot, who flew Anderson out of Bhopal on December 7, 1984, four days after
the deadly gas accident, corroborated by saying he was asked by the authorities
to fly Anderson to New Delhi. "At around 4:30, Anderson two officials SP (Superintend
of Police) and Collector Bhopal came to the Bhopal airport. We asked Anderson
to get inside the aircraft. He sat; we closed the door of the aircraft and left
for Delhi. No, I came to know that later it was Anderson. Two pilots including
me and Anderson were the only passengers," said Captain S.H. Ali. Both pilot and
the former aviation director said that senior officials from Bhopal city accompanied
Anderson to the airport. On Monday (June 7), a court sentenced seven top executives
of Union Carbide to two years in prison for negligence in failing to prevent one
of the world''s worst industrial accidents that killed thousands of people. A
Union Carbide plant in Bhopal accidentally released toxic gases into the air in
1984. According to Government, around 3,500 died as a result of the disaster.
Activists, however, say that 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and
the years that followed. Soon after the judgment, which came after a court case
lasting 26 years, controversy regarding the extradition of Anderson and the circumstances
in which he fled from India have gained momentum. The court ruling fined the former
Indian unit of US chemicals firm Union Carbide 500,000 rupees. However, soon after
the court awarded the jail term it granted bail to all the seven convicts. The
judgment has caused disappointment and outrage in the country with politicians
cutting across political lines slamming the ruling Congress party for its alleged
role in letting Union Carbide and its management get away without any stringent
punishment.
