Bhopal, June 6
Almost 25 years after it had left it, 400 MTs of lethal chemical waste left behind by the Union Carbide Corporation continues to lie on the premises of the now defunct plant. And it continues to seep underground, polluting the groundwater sources in a radius of several kilometres.

No one has been able to find a way to dispose it of safely. Among those who have tried --- and failed --- include the governments of India and Madhya Pradesh, the Army and even the MP High Court.

The Madhya Pradesh government has conveniently washed its hand off the entire issue. “We are awaiting court orders,” is the stock official reply to all queries about what the government proposed to do after Gujarat’s refusal to incinerate 350 MTs of the waste at an industrial incinerator at Ankleshwar in Gujarat. It was the MP High Court that had ordered the disposal of a major part of the waste at Ankleshwar.

The 390 MTs of waste includes byproducts of the manufacturing process of “Sevin”--- the pesticide that was produced in the Bhopal plant --- unsold finished products and unused raw material. It is a virtual store house of deadly chemicals like lead, mercury, Hexachlorobenzene, Chlorinated napthalenes, Hexacholorobutadin, Hexachlorocyclohexanes and a host of other formulations with complicated names and lethal effects. The detrimental effects of these chemicals on human body range from causing cancer, severely damaging liver, kidneys and lungs, affecting child growth and inducing chromosomal changes to causing headaches, vomiting, anaemia, digestive and sleep disorders and muscle and joint pain.

In the intervening years, the waste has seeped into the earth with rain water. Though there is no clear estimate of the vertical and horizontal area that has been contaminated by the waste, water of hand pumps as far as 3 km away from the plant has been found to contain toxic chemicals. And this is an area that is heavily populated with tens of thousands of lower-middle class and poor families living in settlements around the plant.

It was only five-six years back, after a report of the National Environmental Engineering Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, detailing the alarming level of toxicity in the groundwater samples of the area, that the government moved in to seal hand pumps. Dozens of hand pumps were sealed but many continue to be used for want of alternative sources of water. The government has failed to implement the very simple solution of arranging piped water supply to the settlements around the plant. The MP Pollution Control Board conducts quarterly monitoring tests on the soil and water of the area around the plant but what action is taken on the reports is a well-guarded secret.

In May 2004, the Supreme Court passed an order saying that the settlements around the Union Carbide factory should start getting clean drinking water before the onset of monsoons. Five years later, more than 25,000 people who live in 14 colonies around the factory are being forced to drink the toxic water. In 2006, a group of victims of the contaminated water undertook a ‘padayatra’ from Bhopal to Delhi and met the Prime Minister. He immediately sanctioned Rs 14 crore to provide clean drinking water to the residents of the area. The water was supposed to reach the area by end-2007. But till date, only 30 per cent of work on the project has been completed.

Legally and morally, Union Carbide and after its take-over by Dow Chemicals --- the latter --- is responsible for safe disposal of the waste. But beyond filing an application in the MP High Court asking the court to direct Dow Chemicals to pay Rs 100 crore as advance for the clean- up, the government has done nothing to force the company to clean up the mess.

New Delhi, June 6
A day after a 28-year-old traveller from California tested positive for swine flu in Hyderabad, his brother was also confirmed with Influenza A H1N1 infection. With today’s confirmation, the number of swine flu cases in India has gone up to eight; four in Andhra Pradesh alone.

Sources in the health ministry said two of the Californian passengers’ co-travellers on flight BA 227 from the US that landed yesterday in Hyderabad also tested positive.

Among them are a 31-year-old woman and her four-year-old daughter, both sitting in close proximity of the infected passenger. All the confirmed cases are said to be stable and under treatment at the identified health facility in Hyderabad.

Chennai, June 6
The Rameswaram temple in South Tamil Nadu has a mysterious patron in a Swiss lady, Elizabeth Ziegler, who has donated Rs 2.08 crore, besides providing Rs 4 to 5 lakh every year from 2006.

But, none of the temple officials, including the chairperson of the board of trustees, Banumathi Nachiar, has ever seen her. She remains elusive to publicity and inaccessible to the media, though she could have visited the temple many times. The only fact known about her is that she is a lawyer in Geneva.

Bhanumathi, who is the first to establish contact with Elizabeth in 2006, said they had contacted each other only by fax. “She must have visited the temple and performed pujas, but, I have never seen her”, she said.

“Immediately after taking charge as chairperson of the board, I came across a letter in the files from Elizabeth, dated October 12, 2004. In that letter, Elizabeth said she wanted to make a donation to the temple.”

Since, nobody had replied, Elizabeth too had not responded after that, Bhanumathi said. “But, I decided to respond to the offer and faxed a detailed reply to the Swiss benefactor, thanking her for the offer and giving details of the bank account to which the money should be sent. Elizabeth sent Rs 4 lakh immediately in the same year and continuously making contributions every year after that”, Bhanumathi said.

The unseen patron has been donating between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh every year.

A few months ago, Elizabeth sent another fax saying she wanted to donate a huge amount to the temple. Following our reply, she donated Rs 2.08 crore on February 19.

This donation was deposited with Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation, a state government enterprise. The interest would be used for the purposes specified by Elizabeth, said Bhanumathi.

The mysterious donor had asked the temple authorities to use the money for performing daily pujas and for the Maha Sivarathri and ‘Rudra puja’ (both once a year). She had also instructed the temple management to feed a minimum of 101 poor people on December 11, every year. But, she has not specified the significance the date has in her life.

The temple had received the patronage of Tatas and Birlas in the past, said Bhanumathi. Her ancestors, the Sethupathis constructed the temple between the 12th century and 16th century when they were the rulers of Ramanathapuram region.

Mumbai, June 6
Mohammed Omar Madni, a suspected aide of Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed, is likely to be questioned by the city police in connection with July 11, 2006, serial train blasts case.

“We are in touch with the Delhi police authorities and after getting more information from them, we will send a team to interrogate him,” Additional Director General (Anti-Terrorism Squad) KP Raghuvanshi said today. The Delhi police, while seeking Madni’s custody, had said he was found to have recruited Kamal Ansari, arrested by the ATS in connection with the train blasts that killed over 180 persons.

Ansari is among the 13 arrested for their alleged involvement in planting the bombs aboard the suburban trains in Mumbai. The ATS has filed its chargesheet in the case. — PTI

New Delhi, June 6
'Jai ho', 'cuddies' and 'slumdog' are among the 73 other finalists from across the globe to become the millionth English word.

The Global Language Monitor, an Austin, Texas-based firm that analyses and catalogues the latest trends in word usage and word choices with a particular emphasis on English, will choose the millionth word on June 10.

At present, there are 999,927 words in their 'English language world clock'.

According to the firm's site languagemonitor.com, 'cuddies' — the Hinglish word for ladies underwear or panties; jai ho — used as a term of praise in Hindi that became popular through the Oscar winning “Slumdog Millionaire”; as well as slumdog — a disparaging description of slum dwellers — are all in the race to becoming the millionth word in the English language.

According to the site, owing to the “global extent of the English language, the millionth word is as likely to appear from India, China or East Los Angeles as it is to emerge from Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s home town)”.

Other English millionth word finalists are Australia’s alchopops - sugary flavoured mixed drinks; bangster - a Polish combination of gangster and banker, de-friend - Internet lingo for no longer following a friends update on sites, sexting - texting of sexual content, quendy-trendy - British youth slang for hip and up to date, and mobama - relating to the fashion trends of US first lady. — IANS

BRIEFLY

50 T-90 tanks to roll out soon
New Delhi: Russia has agreed to provide India with kits for 50 T-90 MBTs under a transfer of technology agreement for indigenous production, which will enable the Army to raise an armoured regiment by year-end. — PTI

Cyclone: Centre team to assess damage
KOLKATA: A Central team headed by Ashok Lavasa, Joint-Secretary in the Home Ministry arrived here on Friday to take stock of the loss to life and property in the aftermath of the cyclone that hit the state on May 25. The team’s visit follows Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee’s request to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send such a team and sanction Rs 1,000 crore for relief and restoration work. — PTI

No info on attack on Dawood’s bro: Police
MUMBAI: Rumours of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees being targeted in a shootout in Pakistan were on Saturday denied by the city police, who said it had not received any such information from its sources or through official channels. The rumours of the attack on Anees were fuelled by reports of a shootout in Karachi. Anees, a wanted accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, is absconding and allegedly living in Pakistan along with Dawood. — PTI

Dalit killing: Two cops suspended
MUZAFFARNAGAR (UP): As many as two police officers had been suspended on charges of failing to protect the lives of Dalits in their jurisdiction, officials said on Saturday. SHO SK Rai and Sub-inspector Rajbir Singh were suspended when unidentified people at Bhoka Heri village gunned down a Dalit, Puran, on Friday, it said. The suspension was ordered by state police chief Vikram Singh. — PTI