150,000 Bhopalis are sick and suffering from Carbide’s chemicals. Yet many illnesses remain medical mysteries: doctors don’t know how to treat them.
Call the Indian Government TODAY. Demand a National Commission on Bhopal.

Join Bhopal survivors groups in demanding a National Commission on Bhopal with the authority to design, fund and implement initiatives in medical, economic, social and environmental rehabilitation.

Call the Indian Government TODAY (talking points are below). The Government has been responsive to pressure in the past and you should expect a sympathetic and courteous response when you call. (Speak with the consulate nearest you--or with all of them for added impact).

- Call the Indian Embassy in Washington DC at (202) 939-7010 and ask to leave a comment for Ambassador Ronen Sen, and/or email the Ambassador at ambassador@indiagov.org.

- Call the New York Consulate at (212) 774-0632 and ask to speak with A.R. Ghanshyam or the Press Department, and/or email the Consul General of NY at cg@indiacgny.org.

- Call the office of Arun Kumar, the Chicago Consul General, directly at (312) 595-0412, and/or email the Consul General at cg@indianconsulate.com.

- Call the office of Shri S. R. Tayal, the Houston Consul General, directly at (713) 626-3153, and/or email the Consul General at cgi-hou@swbell.net.

- Call the office of Shri. B. S. Prakash, the San Francisco Consul General, directly at (415) 668-0998, and/or email the Consul General at CG@Indianconsulate-sf.org.

Note: The Government of India is generally most responsive to Indian-Americans, so if you are an Indian-American, please identify yourself as such.

TALKING POINTS
1) Twenty years after the disaster, the people of Bhopal continue to suffer. Between 120,000 to 150,000 survivors of the December '84 disaster are chronically ill, and on average one gas victim dies from their injuries every day. Medical treatment and research have been inadequate; official studies have been prematurely terminated and there is currently no monitoring of the alarming rise in the incidence of cancers, tuberculosis and diseases caused by contaminated water. Over 50,000 survivors currently unable to work owing to exposure-related illnesses, and this has created a dramatic drop in the economic condition of tens of thousands of families. Over 20,000 residents of Bhopal are forced to drink water contaminated with toxic chemicals that Union Carbide left behind, and which have never been cleaned up. Even worse, tests have shown that breast milk of mothers in these communities carry toxic chemicals and heavy metals in high concentrations.

2) Government relief and rehabilitation schemes have been a failure. Official figures indicate that more than Rs. 400 crores (or US $90 million) have been spent since the December '84 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal. Despite this, the system of health care is plagued with little or no applicable research or treatment guidelines, and the lack of a system of registration means that the government health care is often part of the problem. Gainful employment has only been provided to less than 200 persons. And the living environment of the survivors continues to deteriorate.

3) A National Commission would have the necessary authority and resources for carrying out the work of rebuilding in Bhopal for the next 50 years in a transparent and responsible way. It would improve the health condition of the survivors of the December '84 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal and their next generation through initiatives in health care, research and monitoring and in economic, social and environmental rehabilitation. And it would be model for effective, information based, people-participatory response to industrial disasters.

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