New Delhi, Dec 05: Negligence by Union Carbide and not sabotage was responsible for the Bhopal gas disaster, the British journal New Scientist said today basing its conclusion on documents just released in the United States. "The documents suggest the US owner of the chemical plant cut crucial corners in its design, and reduced investment to maintain control," New Scientist said in a leading article. This compromised safety of the plant, it added.
The accident at Union Carbide's pesticide plant in Bhopal in 1984, the worst industrial disaster on record, killed 8000 people and injured at least 150,000. The victims are still dying. The company paid $470 million as compensation to a trust in 1989. The survivors received around $500 each.


The report said Union Carbide, now taken over by Dow Chemical, was forced to release the documents in November by a court in New York state that was hearing a class action suit filed by Bhopal survivors in 1999.
The internal documents contradict earlier claims of the company that the accident was an act of sabotage and not due to faulty design, New Scientist said. Bureau Report