KRISHNA GAUR (Off.) : 0755-2701111, 2701444 MAYOR 8 (Fax) :0755-2542141 i.'.-.. _,,/ (Resi.) : 0755-2701777, 2441578 E.mail : mayorbhopal@yahoo.co.in Municipal Corporation, Bhopal Sadar Manzil, Bhopal (M,P,). 462 001 ruo, :,,..1{,ll-)- I To, Mr. Tadatoshi AKIBA Hon. Mayor of Hiroshima, 6-34 Kokutaiji-machi 1-chome, Naka-ku Hiroshima 7 30-8586, Japan email :-hishoka@city.hiroshima.jp Fax:082-246-4734 06 December 2010 Sub: Invitation to inaugurate the 'Bhopal 2071: International Students Workshop & Symposium' on02 February 20L1 Dear Mr. Mayor, On behalf of the people of city of Bhopal, I would like to extend warrn greetings to you and the people of Hiroshima. Often termed as the 'Iliroshima' of industrial disasters, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 finds an immediate & deep-rooted connection with the history & people of Hiroshima. The shared feelings are emphatically reflected by a r-nemorial built by the community living in the vicinity of the disaster site, which has a statue of a wailing lady with her children with the following words engraved on its base: "NO HIROSHIMA.NO BHOPAL. WE WANT TO LIVE-. This poignant connection of loss can be a very powerful tool to connect the people of Bhopal with the people of Hiroshima and demonstrate that neither of their stories is unique. We feel that tragedies such as Bhopal and Hiroshima blur boundaries and differences. Their aftermath and significance rises above the immediate and become events in our shared common past from :.:,- which our Present and future must learn from. The City of Hiroshima has dealt with loss and tragedy making peace & creativity its agenda & its message to the international community. The initiatives of the 'City of Peace & Creativity' involving children, artists, victims of the tragedy, goverlunent and the civil society at large, are commendable. However, if the Bhopal Gas Tragedy fades from public consciousness, we risk losing the vital lessons and legacy of the disaster that has affected millions of lives.
Keeping in view the aforesaid objective, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation is supporting the "Bhopal 2071-: Internationnl Students Workshop and Symposiutn" organized by School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, rnodern Asian Architecture Network (maan), India and the International Commjttee for Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) India from 02-04 February 2010 at Bhopal. This initiative is supported by the UNSECO Office in New Delhi, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU), Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, university of Tokyo and university of Gothenburg, sweden. The agenda of this event is to look critically at the issues related to the sociaf urban and ecological consequences of the Bhopal gas Tragedy and the nature of its legacy. It aims to create awareness in order to initiate processes and involve stakeholders of the tragedy to contribute to the rehabilitation of the disaster-affected precinct in Bhopal. The other objective is to promote continued research around Bhopal on the themes of Development, Equity and Sustainability, which have global significance. On behalf of the city of Bhopal, I would like to extend a humble invitation for you to inaugurate the Bhopal 2011 International Symposium on 02 February 2011. This exchange will be important to strengthen the confidence of the people of Bhopal while adding momentum to the cause that Bhopal today stands for. We hope that this event will become the first step towards continued exchange and cooperation between the two cities on creative grounds, sending the message of sustainable development & peace across the world. We look forward to hearing from you regarding your confirmation for participation in the event. Thank you Warn/Reeands,z l}lfuu^g-*" (Mrs.\6ish ffiaur) I nnopal, Madhya Pradesh, India,-462003 Za
11 November 2010 Moulshri Joshi Bhopal2011 Organising Committee National Representative, TICCIH India INDIA BHOPAL 2011 Bhopal 2011 is a unique opportunity to bring together people from all age groups, nationalities and interests to focus on possibly the worst post-war industrial tragedy in the world. It is also an opportunity to explore how a global company like Union Carbide, building a chemical plant in Bhopal not purely for commercial reasons as certainly many people believed that it would help the agriculture of India, but when operated locally things went disastrously wrong and thousands of people suffered as a result. Transfer of technology form country to country is not often a smooth process with sometimes huge benefits for the recipient country but on other occasions leading to disastrous consequences. This is one of the reasons the inaugural meeting for The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) first met in Ironbridge, Shropshire, England, in 1973 to bring together professionals of all walks of life to study, preserve and interpret the remains of industrialisation. Whilst Ironbridge became the first world heritage site for industry, depicting the first heroic stages of industrialisation, there is justification for promoting Bhopal as another world heritage site commemorating how badly things can go wrong even when everyone has the best of intentions. As Secretary of TICCIH, I would urge you to attend this conference in Bhopal and support those who are concerned that the unsteady progress of industrialisation should be commemorated. Yours sincerely, Stuart B. Smith Secretary TICCIH The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage http://www.ticcih.org PRESIDENT: Patrick E. Martin, Professor of Archaeology and Chair Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI 49931, USA Tel: +1 906-487-2070, pemartin@mtu.edu SECRETARY: Stuart B. SMITH, Chygarth, 5 Beacon Terrace, Camborne, Cornwall TR14 7BU, UK Tel/Fax:+44 (0)1209 612142. stuartbsmith@chygarth.co.uk Editor: James Douet, Girona, 173, 5. 3, 08037 Barcelona, SPAIN Tel: +34 93 207 5855, Fax: +34 93 736 8960. TICCIH@gencat.net Bank Account: Lloyds TSB Bank plc, 27 Fore Street, Redruth, TR15 2BJ. Bank Sort Code 30 97 00. Account No. 1351659. Account Name. TICCIH Registered in England as a Charity Registered number 1079809