The New Tirupur Area Development Corporation Limited (NTADCL) is the first public private partnership, set up in 1995 primarily to supply industrial water to Tirupur, a major export centre for knitwear, in India.

The first part of the paper briefly describes the geography and the socio-economic background of Plachimada. The second part analyses the legal and institutional framework applicable to the case. This part also examines how the government approached the case, which has already been presented before the Kerala High Court. The third part is an analysis of the case law.

The Bhopal gas leak disaster symbolises the failure of the legal system in general and the failure of the system to respond to the disaster in particular. The twenty years of engagement with the law and the justice system holds many lessons for the future. It is time for introspection and assessment.

Twenty years after the worst ever man-made disaster in the country, victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy got a direction from the Supreme Court for the disbursement of a Rs 1,567 crore compensation to them, paid by US pesticide major Union Carbide.

Supreme Court order dated July 19 2004 directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to release Rs 1503 crore deposited with it by the company for disbursement to Bhopal gas tragedy victims.