Bhopal Gas Tragedy: 30 Years On, Generations Affected On a cold December night of 1984, Bhopal was struck by one of the worst industrial disasters when 40 tonnes of poisonous Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory, killing over 1700 and affecting more than 5 lakh people. Thirty years later, its effects are still visible in the children and grandchildren of those who survived. Like Taha Qureshi, who was born 28 years after the gas tragedy and suffers from blood cancer. Both his parents Shamshad and Memuna are victims of the tragedy and suspect that because of their health condition their child could be suffering from this fatal disease. When Warren Anderson, the then CEO of Union Carbide flew to India 4 days after the accident, he was granted bail and disappeared immediately, failing to return. He passed away in September this year, leaving millions of Indians without proper justice. Not only did the Indian government treat the matter casually and not enforce justice, the settlement of $470 million the victims were entitled to never reached them completely. A paltry sum of Rs 25,000 was offered to those injured and Rs 1,000,000 to the family member of a deceased. Most of the amount did not reach the people, and there are many who are still participating in protests and appealing to the government for releasing their compensation amount. What is perhaps the worst part of the tragedy is that even after 30 years, the toxic waste from the plant has not been effectively disposed. It still lies in the same site, in a weed-infested UCC plant in Bhopal. There are guards posted outside the site but there has been no purification work carried out by the government in 30 years! While no one is allowed to enter the site, it still remains, mocking the villagers, a haunting memory of an incident that ended their lives.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 07:41:55 +0000
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