Dow, together with its Union Carbide subsidiary, denies responsibility for victims' health or the state of the site, following an overall settlement reached in 1989 with the Indian government. The claims totalled $3bn, but the Indian government settled for $470m (then worth Rs7.5bn) plus a further $43m that has still to be fully distributed.
Down the years, there have been many allegations of corruption and of other payments involving the Indian government and its agencies, state level officials and politicians, and Dow. Two years ago, Dow admitted it had been fined $325,000 by America's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because employees in India had bribed officials. "We know that Dow subscribed to the BJP election funds," Sathyu Sarangi, a leading Bhopal activist who runs a successful ayurvedic-based medical clinic for gas victims.