NEW DELHI/BHOPAL, 31 August — The man who headed US-based Union Carbide Corp. when a gas leak killed thousands in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has been found at a vacation home outside New York City, according to an environmental group.
Previously the whereabouts of Warren Anderson, who faces up to 20 years imprisonment in India on the charge of "culpable homicide," were unknown.
"Now that he has been found, the Indian government should right away seek his extradition," Ganesh Nachur, Greenpeace campaign director in India, said yesterday.
A court on Wednesday declined a request by prosecutors to reduce charges against Anderson for the 1984 gas leak to "hurt by negligence." He would have faced a maximum sentence of two years if convicted in absentia of the lesser charge.
Anderson has refused to appear in court in India since the case opened in 1992.
Greenpeace said on its website that members of the group found Anderson, the company’s former chairman, living in Bridgehampton, New York state, 10 days ago and served him with what they called a citizens’ arrest warrant. Anderson refused to comment on the disaster, the Netherlands-based environmental group said. No telephone listing was available for Anderson.
The leak of deadly methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh state, killed 4,000 people within hours on the night of Dec. 2, 1984. Over the years, the death toll has risen to 14,410 as those sickened by the gas later died, the government says. Survivors still complain of ailments, ranging from breathlessness, constant tiredness and stomach pain to cardiac problems and tuberculosis.Some 600,000 people have filed compensation claims with the government. Many of the cases are still caught up in legal tangles and red tape.
Greenpeace called on both the United States and India to act swiftly now that Anderson’s whereabouts are known, saying he and the rest of Union Carbide should take responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy.
A court on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to start extradition proceedings against Anderson.
But Nachur said the environmental group had sent details of his whereabouts to Indian authorities but none have acted on it.
No immediate reaction was available from the government as it was closed for a holiday.
