36 Years of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Survivors Still Anticipate Justice

Bhopal: The survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy still look for justice on the 36th anniversary of the catastrophe.

Several rights organizations have been demanding harsh punishment to those responsible for the mishap, medical facilities for the survivors, adequate compensation for the families of the victims, a proper plan for rehabilitation, and removal of toxic chemicals lying on the plant premises even after decades.

According to the data recorded in the state government affidavit filed in the court in 2006, a total of 3,787 people were killed by the catastrophe, while more than 5.58 lakh citizens were affected after the leakage of toxic gas from the erstwhile Union Carbide Factory.

On the other hand, the organizations raising voices for the victims claim that the tragedy killed at least 25,000 people.

A report released by the International Labor Organization (ILO) tagged the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy as one of the world’s ‘major industrial accidents’ of the 20th century. According to the report, at least 30 tons of methyl isocyanate gas was leaked from the Union Carbide Pesticide Plant, affecting more than 6,00,000 workers and numbers of nearby inhabitants.

The methyl isocyanate gas (MIC) is highly toxic and may cause life risk within a few minutes of inhalation in case its concentration exceeds 21 ppm (parts per million). That was the reason for the heap of death tolls and the crippling after-effects that the thousands of survivors are having to bear for decades.