31st Bhopal gas tragedy anniv: Modi govt apathetic to plight of victims, say activists
Though toxic waste from the 1984 disaster is still killing and deforming thousands of children, neither BJP nor Congress have done anything significant to assuage their pain and sufferings.
Ahead of the 31st anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, which falls on December 3-4, a group fighting for justice for the victims on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of being apathetic to their demands.
Though toxic waste from the 1984 disaster is still killing and deforming thousands of children, neither BJP nor Congress have done anything significant to assuage their pain and sufferings.
Bhopal gas tragedy: 15 shocking photos from 1984
Even three decades after the tragedy, victims and their kin are still fighting for compensation. Bhopal Group of Information and Action (BGIA) said the incumbent as well as the previous governments have been ignorant to the victims' demands.
The protesters wanted the government to revise the number of deaths and injuries it is seeking compensation from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) - the US-based owner of Union Carbide India (UCIL) at the time of the accident - and Dow Chemical Company, which acquired UCC in 2001.
30 years of Bhopal Gas Tragedy
The government said at least 5,295 people were killed in the early hours of December 3, 1984, when around 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas accidentally leaked from a pesticide factory owned by US multinational Union Carbide Corp while activists say at least 25,000 were killed from illnesses since the leak.
From 2012 government started distributing an additional compensation to "severely affected" survivors, giving some 33,000 people 100,000 rupees each but protesters say the government petition still underestimates the number of victims and the compensation did not go to many who needed it.
Activists accuse the Indian and US governments and the Dow Chemical Company that owns Union Carbide of not doing enough to support victims of the disaster. They demand more financial compensation for the victims and the removal of toxic waste from the factory premises.
However, Dow Chemical has denied any liability, saying it bought Union Carbide a decade after the firm settled its liabilities to the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million.
But activists said that was a paltry sum based on the extent of human suffering and various petitions to hold Dow to account and insist on increased compensation and cleaning up the waste are being pressed in Indian and US courts.