IOA to ask London 2012 Olympic Games to say farewell to Dow Chemical
It has recently come to light that the Indian Olympic Association will be formally asking the cancelling of contract between Dow Chemical company and the London 2012 Olympic Games. The reason for IOA making such a demand is the fact that the American corporation
is responsible for the tragic incident that took place in Bhopal back in 1984.
Vijay Malhotra, who is the acting president of the IOA, commented on the matter in the following manner: "We are proposing to write to the IOC London Olympics that this sponsor should be out of it. Since these games are for friendship it should not be one
of the sponsors."
After the incident took place, Union Carbide which is owned by Dow Chemical, paid compensation worth $470 million to the victims of the gas leak. However, according to the government of India as well as the survivors of the incident, the cash payment made
was not near enough what should have been paid. According to the government and the survivors of the incident, the Dow Chemical company should have given an amount close to $ 1.2 billion at the very least.
The incident happened because of a gas leak in one of the factories of Dow Chemical located in Bhopal that caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people who lived in the vicinity. The deaths were not only immediate, but they kept on occurring over a
period of time. Overall, the death toll by the gas leak reached a baffling figure of 25,000, which is why the Bhopal incident is termed as one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
The effects of the disaster were far reaching as the total of 100,000 individuals that were exposed to the gas leak still now suffer from ailments such as birth defects, blindness and in some cases cancer.
The sentiment in the Indian public is becoming increasingly negative towards the association of the Games with Dow Chemicals in response of which the IOA is asking the Olympic Games formally to end contract with the Dow Chemical company.
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