Its been 37 years since India’s worst industrial disaster- the Bhopal gas tragedy took place. However, the victims of the disaster still await justice from the government.
On Wednesday, NGOs working for the rights of Bhopal gas disaster survivors claimed that despite 37 years, various governments in Madhya Pradesh and at the Centre have failed to bring the
culprits of the world's one of the worst industrial disasters to justice.
The Bhopal gas tragedy occurred when a gas leak occurred at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal on the nights of December 2-3, 1984. The incident killed thousands
of people due to exposure to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and affected more than five lakh people.
According to media reports, the survivors of the Bhopal tragedy have not received adequate compensation and none of the culprits had ever been sentenced to prison till today. The NGOs working
for victims rights claim that instead of claiming compensation from the US-based Dow Chemical for the “environmental damage caused due to the contamination of the soil and groundwater, the state government is planning
to build a memorial at the global toxic hotspot.”
Meanwhile, on December 1, a month-long protest by a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with the slogan "37 years of Bhopal Gas Disaster: 37 Questions" came to an end,
recounting the Centre's failures in providing justice to the people of Bhopal.
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During the protest which began on October 26, the protesters, the majority of whom were elderly women, raised one question every day for 37 days on the roadside, just 1 km from the closed
Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. The questions on a variety of topics were intended to draw attention to the state's and the Central government's inaction in seeking justice, compensation, and rehabilitation for the
victims and their families.
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh head Rashida Bee in a press conference said, "Even after 37 years, justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster is awaited.
Instead of claiming compensation from the foreign firm, our democratically-elected governments continue to collude with American corporations.”
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) was acquired by Dow Chemical in 2001, seventeen years after the disaster. Dow has been named as a respondent in a number of ongoing lawsuits stemming from
Union Carbide's Bhopal operations. Union Carbide has a website dedicated to the disaster, claiming that the incident was caused by sabotage and that adequate safety systems were in place and operational to prevent water
intrusion.
The state government, on the other hand, announced that on December 3, a tribute and prayer meeting will be held at the Barkatullah Bhawan in Bhopal for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.