clipped from: www.nzherald.co.nz Twenty five years ago, Sathyu Sarangi's life changed immeasurably.
"While mass graves were being dug the Indian government was sneaking Union Carbide's chief executive out of the country. We decided to form an organisation to highlight the immediate concerns of the population and the campaign for justice grew from there," Sarangi says.
He adds that most people are unaware that the disaster in Bhopal continues to this day, citing a 1999 Greenpeace report that found serious contamination of soil and water polluted with heavy metals and chemical compounds.
Indeed, the 1999 Greenpeace investigation found "extensive and, in some areas, severe chemical contamination of the environment surrounding the former Union Carbide plant.
As a result of the ubiquitous presence of contaminants, the exposure of the communities surrounding the plants to complex mixtures of hazardous chemicals continues on a daily basis.