By Pervez Bari
Bhopal, August 15: Five organizations representing survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy have announced the revival of their 13-year-long joint campaign to secure adequate compensation for all those affected by the catastrophic Union Carbide disaster that struck Bhopal in December 1984.
During a joint press conference on Tuesday, the organizations shared a letter they recently sent to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, urging immediate action on the issue.
“We have written to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, urging them to act on the submissions made by the Attorney General last year in the Supreme Court concerning the inadequate compensation provided to Bhopal survivors. We have reminded them that the apex court specifically directed the Government of India to address the shortfall in compensation,” stated Rashida Bee, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, a trade union representing women survivors.
Balkrishna Namdev, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha, pointed to the stark evidence of survivors being short-changed: “According to the latest data from the Welfare Commissioner’s office, 90% of the 13,133 survivors diagnosed with cancers and kidney diseases were initially classified under the ‘temporary injury’ category, receiving a mere Rs. 25,000 as compensation.”
Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, who has authored a scientific paper on the subject, added, “Records from Central and Madhya Pradesh state government hospitals reveal that gas-exposed individuals died at a rate 2.7 times higher during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the non-exposed population in the same district. This increased vulnerability is significant proof that most Bhopal survivors suffered permanent, not temporary, injuries.”
Nawab Khan, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, highlighted that in their letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, they drew attention to a letter written by the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, to the then Prime Minister on December 8, 2011. In this letter, Chouhan had sought Rs. 5 lakhs in compensation for every person exposed to the toxic gas. “If not the Bhopal survivors, maybe they will listen to Chouhan, who is currently their colleague in the Central cabinet,” Khan remarked.
“It is indeed unfortunate that the Bhopal survivors have had to struggle for 13 long years to obtain adequate compensation, which is their legal and constitutional right,” said Nousheen Khan of Children Against Dow Carbide. “Union Carbide’s documents clearly state that exposure to Methyl Iso-cyanate causes residual injury despite prompt treatment. For the government to ignore this is to turn a blind eye to both science and justice. We hope to change this through peaceful action.”
The Bhopal gas tragedy, which occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, when poisonous Methyl Iso-cyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing plant, claimed the lives of 3,000 people almost instantly. Over the years, more than 25,000 have succumbed to the effects of the gas, and the tragic legacy continues unabated. Nearly half a million people continue to suffer from the side effects of the toxic exposure, with several thousand permanently disabled.
