Memorial for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Victims

Girish Dariyav Karnawat; Kunjan Garg; Darshan Saraiya; Puneet Mehrotra; Abhay Singh; Vikram Ponappa; Ritu Singh; Siddarth Tandur

A process which continues beyond the physical boundaries of site, substituting the stagnency which has set in over the years, a process which brings withit a new narration and inculcates ... could we recreate some life on a barren, toxified site that bears testimony of the dead and decayed life? Could the semblance of a memorial travel beyond the often percieved built analogy, towards an ever-present and consistently growing phenomenon?

The memorial is not a static manifestation of an architectural form glorifying and or subjugating the tragedy of the event. Suggesting that the water purification plant is the memorial for gas victims, it metamorphosizes from the metaphysical to the more pragmatic interpretation, and seeks its presence and continuance.

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Girish Dariyav Karnawat, Kunjan Garg, Darshan Saraiya, Puneet Mehrotra, Abhay Singh, and Siddhartha Singh. Architects' Statement In Memorial for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Victims. GDKDesigns, 2005.

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Girish Dariyav Karnawat, Kunjan Garg, Darshan Saraiya, Puneet Mehrotra, Abhay Singh, and Siddhartha Singh. Architects' Statement In Memorial for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Victims. GDKDesigns, 2005.

Union Carbide was a natural progression of the process of industrialization, and it was meant to alleviate some of the dangers posed to the agricultural economy. That we (humanity) paid a price in its name is the result of a collective callousness that we have let persist with activities that are industrial in nature. Our priorities have always excluded simple safety concerns and we have always overlooked these as impertinent part of our lives. “Union Carbide’s” will continue to remain our need, and so would continue all the related hazards if we continue to choose to ignore the fact that we will always oscillate between the two.

The act of contamination is as rampant within the confines of the city as much as they are in the industrial zones. Natural reservoirs and lakes continue to be polluted, while we seek technologies to purify the same before supplying it back to the city.

We have chosen to address these issues from a larger perspective of the city and its growth, city and its people and not just delegate it to the nuances of adhering to industrial policies and acts.

Our architectural intent is to propose a Water Purification Plant, on the site where stood Union Carbide, in memory of the victims of the tragedy and as much for the city itself. We seek a natural progression of this idea from this site into the collective purview of development issues for the city and its people. Subject to adaption this must serve as a model for many such plants within the city and its confines, industrial or non industrial in their nature, serving as public spaces, subverting the notion of water purification plants.