The producers of JosyFlo accessories are based in Bhopal, an industrial city in Central India. An ancient city surrounded by beautiful lakes, Bhopal made history in the 19th and 20th Centuary with a hundred years of rule by a lineage of queens or begums. The succession of the ‘Begums’ gave the city such innovations as waterworks, railways and a postal system
This large thriving city was devestated in the 80's by one of the great horrors of our time.
The Bhopal disaster was an industrial catastrophe that took place at a pesticide plant owned and operated by Union Carbide (UCIL) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Around midnight on the intervening night of December 2–3, 1984, the plant released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins, resulting in the exposure of over 500,000 people. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Other government agencies estimate 15,000 deaths. Others estimate that 8,000 died within the first weeks and that another 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
Some 25 years after the gas leak, 390 tonnes of toxic chemicals abandoned at the UCIL plant continue to leak and pollute the groundwater in the region and affect thousands of Bhopal residents who depend on it, though there is some dispute as to whether the chemicals still stored at the site pose any continuing health hazard. There are currently civil and criminal cases related to the disaster ongoing in the United States District Court, Manhattan and the District Court of Bhopal, India against Union Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical Company, with an Indian arrest warrant pending against Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the disaster. No one has yet been prosecuted.
Below are some videos detailing the effects of this devastating incident. Some content may be upsetting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0csW97x8d24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmtN8NkMcmowatch?v=rmtN8NkMcmo
BHOPAL REHABILITATION (BR) was established in 1985 with the aim of assisting and rehabilitating the victims of this tragedy, especially those who had lost their family members. The basic objectives of BR were to help families in economic rehabilitation by providing them -
1. Skills in production techniques;
2. Opportunities of self employment;
3. Help in marketing to ensure a steady flow of demand and supply.
This small independent not for profit organisation provides much needed sustainable employment in a city where abject poverty is rife. Situated within 1 mile of the Union Carbide factory, an area where fresh water is only dispensed for 1 hour every 2 days, the factory provides a beacon of hope for an area devestated by the effects of the chemical fallout.
BR employs approximately 30 full time staff who benefit from a year round competative salary. All of their children attend the local school. Other graduates of the training scheme are employed at busy times and are given the tools to set up their own small businesses. All of the workers have received free training, healthcare and have access to money through a co-opperative bank account.
