The Challenge of Bhopal

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Title
The Challenge of Bhopal
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JUNE

1985 „ .'.

EDITORIAL

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THE

CHALLENGE

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OF

BHOPAL

"The growing multinational culture must be destroyed because it leads to economic chaos, increased
social disparities, mass poverty and filthy affluence in coexistence, environmental degradation, and ultimately
civil strife and war.
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To get a balanced, rational development and to preserve the environment, a new development process is
needed. The biggest intellectual and political challenge of our times is to articulate and demonstrate this
new kind of development."
— A statement of shared concern'
'
Citizens report on state of India’s Environment, 1982.

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Its six.months since the wonst industrial and
environmental disaster in recorded history. Bhopal
has not only been a nightmare for those who were
there on the night of 2/3 December, 1984. It is
also a portent of events to come. '
World Environment Day (5th June) has
come and gone. There have been the usual meetings.
seminars and lectures, the usual lip-service to ecological sensitivity, the usual narrations of the
health and social hazards of environmental pollu­
tion and the usual pious recommendations of what
dan and should be done.
.t . e
How many more Bhopals will we need in this
country before we are shaken from our.apathy?
—-{from our callousness to our disadvantaged
land exploited fellow human beings who are
always the worst hit in such disasters.
*—from our insensitivity to nature, our forests,
our rivers and our land.
—from our insensate rush for chemicalising and
technologising our lifestyles.
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•
—from our race for profits even ’at the cost of
the health of our workers, our people.
The medical community in India will be
increasingly called upon to respond to the medical
oind health problems caused by more ecological
disasters. What will our response be?

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Will we see every disaster as a chance to,.
refine our clinical skills, satisfy our charity, and.
welfare urges, exploit the research potential for:
career development and use the opportunity to ask
for more and more sophisticated gadgetry for our
institutions?
• * Or will we be challenged by these disasters
to i^aise our voice collectively to oppose the unheal­
thy trends in our society to use our knowledge

5

and’social potential, to support the growing aware­
ness for a healthier and more egalitarian social
system; to y^e’pur research skills to strengthen and
concientiseo^r fellow human beings to an increas­
ing health land ecological awareness.
The idilemma of a man who enters a room
to find a tap running and a wash basin overflowing,
faces us today. Will we choose to be floor moppers
or tap turners off? .
’
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Overpowered, .compromised and hypnotised
by the products and high’ pressure -scales tactics of
the multinational pharmaceutical industry, our sen­
sitivities have been so dullened that we are quite
content, to be merely ‘floor. moppens\. Can we ever
be tap-turners off? The International movement of
physicians for prevention of Nuclear war is a thour
(Continued on

page 8)

INSIDE

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Bhopal
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The infc study- -

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2

The JNU study

3

The‘Nagrik’study

5

Mental Health?
Also
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Nuclear reactor-an alert
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x Food in the bands of Big business

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6
7

mfc bulletin:. JUNE .1985 .

RN.27565/76

Effects on Mental Health
(Continued from page 5)
supportive follow up for mental health problems in
adults, adolescents and children (2).
A team of psychiatrists from NIMHANS,
Bangalore have conducted training programmes in
mental health for the medical officers of the state
health services, posted in the gas affected areas.
Tht training provides the necessary skill to diag­
nose and manage the common mental problems seen
in the victims of the gas exposure (2),
A mental health care manual has also been
prepared by the Bangalore team (3).
The mental helal'th dimension is a much
neglected dimension of health inspite , of the much
publicised WHO definition of health. Doctors in
Bhopal were disregarding or misinterpreting the
symptoms of
stress
and
passing
it off
as malin"ering or compensation, neurosis. This
irtis-diagnosis was sadly reflective of our medical
training which plays only lip service to mental
health inspite of its grave importance in health­
care and the doctor patient relation-ship.
We salute our community oriented Psychia­
tric colleagues for bringing to the fore this much
neglected dimension through practical interventions
in supportive care, communication and training in
Bhopal and not exploiting the situation only for
its research potential.
1.

2.
3.

4.

Kinston, W and Rosser, R. (1974)
Disaster: Effects on Mental and Physical state, Journal of
Psychosom. Research 13, 437
Directorate of Information and Publicity, M.P. Govt (1985)
Review meeting of ICMR Projects at Bhopal, Khabar,
5th May 1985.
Mental Health Care Manual for Medical Officers,
by R. Srinivas Murthy et al., National Institute of Mental
Health and Neuro Sciences, P.O. Box. 2900, Bangalore 560 029. (For copies of the manual write to Dr. R. Srinivas
Murth} at the above address)
Ak o available with mfc office a list of references on mental
health aspects of disasters.

The Challenge of Bhopal
(Continued from page 1)
girt provoking example showing that if we want11
to, we can.
Bhopal too is a challenge? So are many other
<more insidous developments in our country. The
growing investment in' nuclear •— energy now dis­
credited as an energy resource in the West, or the
gradual take over of the cottage industry in food
by big business, — e/ach . of . this
though
different from the other has a growing .similarity
representing either a subservience to the profit
motive or an insensitivity to health hazards or
Editorial Committee ;
kamala jayarao
anant phachc
padma prakash
ulhas jaju
dhruv mankad
abhay bang
editor: ravi narayan

Rcgd. No. L/NP/KRNU/202

both.. We feature some of these aspects in this
bulletin. We also feature investigations in Bhopal
which raise some of these issues for. our readership.
Minimata, Seveso, Long island were too
distant to make any impact. Amlai, Chembur, Handigodu, Harihar, Zuari, Nagda, Mavoor, Silent vally,
Thai vaishet hare not stimulated us either. Will
Bhopal dp so?

Nuclear Hazards
(Continued from page 6)
true, is truly shocking. ‘
.
7) Functioning of the health physics unit: The
health physics unit that monitors radioactivity and
oh er environmental pollution in the NFC should be
under an independent agency not answerable to NFC
or the BARC. The alleged victimisation of a scien­
tist of the health physics unit who did try to raise
his voice about some of the environmental issues.
(if correct) is a matter of deep concern.
In conclusion we suggest that an independent
panel of experts and concerned ctizens be invited
to make an indepth, impartial inquiry, and review
the situation in its totality (rather than isola­
ted accidents) and suggest immediate remedial
measures. In this regard our Forum will be willing
to offer Whatever help it can.”
(Some action towards improvement has taken
place in response to this letter. For instance the
Nuclear Fuel Complex has been brought under the
Pollution
Control
Board
and
they
have
to
obtain
consent
from
the
Pollution
Control Board ' before discharge of the efflu­
ents. They have built a compound
wall to
improve security. Their sedimentation ponds have
been lined with some kind of plastic material to
prevent seepage. Several' shortcomings still need to
be reexamined.)
Will citizen’s gloups keep up the pressure
please! This is particularly urgent since a recent
government decision will promote their installation
all over the country in our attempt to prepare our
selves for . the ‘quantum
jump*
into the
21 s Century. The movement against the prevention |
of Nuclear War is not enough!!
(see mfeb 102)
’
(Continued from page 7)

ness in this manner, will not help the poor but only
expand the ranks of th© poor. I am not an econo­
mist. I do not understand the full implications
and the reasons for big industry entering into the
small-chain food market, but to me the. consequen­
ces appear alarming.
— K. S. Jayarao, Hyderabad

Views and opinions expressed in the bulletin are those of the authors and not necessarily
of the organisation.

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Edited by Ravi Narayan, 326, Vth Main, 1st Block, Koramangala, Bangalore-560034

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