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Indian govt to seek extradition of US Bhopal boss

AFP, New Delhi
India will pushtheUSto extradite the former boss of the company blamed for the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster as the government reviews the handling of the catastrophe, a minister said yesterday.
With the state under fire for the slow pace of justice and inadequate clean-up after the gas leak, the world's worst industrial accident, a panel of senior ministers has drawn up recommendations for fresh action.
The panel, whose advice will be discussed at a special cabinet meeting on Friday, has recommended renewing efforts to secure the extradition of the American former boss of the US chemical group at the centre of the case.
The disaster took place in December 1984 when the pesticide plant run by Union Carbide in the capital of Madhya Pradesh state spewed 40 tonnes of toxic gas into surrounding residential areas.
The gas killed thousands instantly and tens of thousands more from its lingering effects over the followingyears.
"India will make vigorous efforts to get (former Union Carbide CEO) Warren Anderson repatriated," Minister for Urban Development Jaipal ReddytoldAFP after the panel finalised its work.
The ministers also recommended the federal government help with the clean-up and that compensation for victims be doubled to one million rupees (22,000 dollars), Reddy said.
The Press Trust of India news agency said the panel suggested three billion rupees (66 million dollars) of federal funds should be set aside for the clean-up of the still-contaminated site where the old factory still stands.
The ministerial group has also recommended setting up a federal medical research facility in Bhopal to monitor the health of survivors and their children, Reddy said.
Local media reports said the government would also explore the possibility of claiming more compensation from US multinational Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide after the disaster.
"Our focus now is in bringing relief to the people who have suffered as a result of this ghastly tragedy," the panel's chairman, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, said.
"There are still thousands of people who continue to suffer.
"We have dealt with all the issues: compensation, legal issues including the issue of pursuing the extradition of Warren Anderson and... most importantly, remediation matters and health-related matters," Chidambaram added.
Ex-chief executive Anderson was arrested in India after the accident, butthenfledthe country. Repeated extradition requests have been turned down by US authorities.
The now-retired executive, like the local managers of Union Carbide's subsidiary in India, faces charges of criminal negligence. Seven local managers were convicted on June 7, while Anderson was named an absconder.
Amid anger about the perceived leniency of the sentences given to the Indian managers — two years in prison pending appeal — Anderson has become a lightning rod for a general feeling of injustice.
Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide in 1999 and says all liabilities related to the accident were cleared in a 470-million-dollar setde-ment reached out of court with India's government in 1989.
The company declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Critics have suggested the ministerial review is a modest bureaucratic response to public fury and is too little, too late after more than 25 years.
The Bhopal survivors' group Chingari Trust welcomed news of higher compensation and a renewed focus on cleaning up the site where tonnes of toxic waste are seeping into local water supplies, accordingto research.
"The government should go after Anderson no matter how old or young he is. He must be tried and punished for what he has done to us all," survivor and trustee of the group Rasheeda Bee told AFP by phone.