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Chrysler has announced the recall of 312,00 minivans from model years 2005 and 2006. Models impacted are the Chrysler Town and Country, the Dodge Caravan and the Dodge Grand Caravan. Under the right conditions, water can enter front crash sensors, causing them to fail.
Only vehicles sold or registered in “cold weather” states are being recalled, and Chrysler dealers won’t have replacement sensors in stock until June. Faulty sensors will trigger an airbag warning light, so there’s no need to be concerned if you’re warning light isn’t activated.
Source: Autoevolution

i have a 2001 chrysler minivan and the air bag light started to come
on about two weeks ago. is it possible that there were problems
with the earlier models?
It’s not likely that your trouble is related to the recall, since your minivan was built four years before the recalled models.
I’d get it checked by a dealer as soon as you can. If the airbag light stays on, it generally means that the airbag system is disabled and won’t function in the event of a crash.