40 years of Bhopal gas tragedy: Survivors hold protest march, demand full compensation

The Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), an organisation dedicated to supporting the victims, organised the rally in the city, which began at the Bharat Talkies theatre area and proceeded to the Union Carbide Factory.

The rally aimed to demand justice, including better compensation, improved health facilities, and the removal of toxic waste from the area.

Additionally, BGIA members decided to send postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to honour the Supreme Court's directives regarding compensation for the victims.

"The postcard is sent to the Prime Minister, the postcard demands that the SC verdict given in 1991 said that any deficiency in the compensation then the government will fulfil. In 2023, Attorney General Venkataramani said that even today the people are still facing difficulty (in the area) and the Supreme Court said that the government should give the compensation," said Rachna Dhingra, head of the BGIA.

Dhingra also said that the victims of the tragedy have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court concerning compensation to victims.

"We are simply demanding, that at least what is being told to the Supreme Court, fulfil that. The families and people affected by the gas tragedy should get 5 lakh compensation. That is why we have also filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court. Victims of gas tragedy should not have to file a writ petition to get compensation from the government," Dhingra added.

Dhingra further condemned the state and central governments, the US government, and the UN agencies who "looked the other way," as the disaster unfolded in the country 40 years ago.

"On the 40th anniversary of the world's worst industrial disaster and the ongoing corporate massacre, we hold the state government, the central government, the US government and the UN agencies responsible for looking the other way because the people of Bhopal are victims of corporate crime," she added.

The organisation has been demanding better conditions from the government for decades, and also the setting up of a special medical board to ensure free and appropriate healthcare for the victims and their children who are still facing the consequences of the gas tragedy.

"We are asking the same thing as people were asking 40 years ago, the people are seeking a special medical board set up so that there is appropriate, free healthcare for gas victims and their children who continue to bear the scars of the Union Carbide disaster even today," she said.

Many people who survived the disaster have still reported facing health problems.

Babulal, a resident of Bhopal's JP Nagar, one of the areas with the highest number of deaths, recounted the horror of seeing many people dead on the street.

"That time, 40 years ago, the gas got out. We had to spray water on our eyes, it was paining so much. Other people, I saw them dead on there. We dragged them and got their bodies to their houses. Even in my street, many people died. But even today, I get tears in my eyes and my eyes pain. I still remember that day, I never saw such a thing ever in my life," Babulal said.

Leelabai, another resident of JP Nagar, also recounted the disaster.

"That day, there was a small child in my arms, around 1 year old. She started crying too, we used to live in those jhuggis. I felt irritation in my eyes and throat, so I sat along with my mother-in-law, and my husband did too. I could hear screams from all over, of people crying and shouting for help. When it was really hard to breathe inside, we came out and saw that all of JP Nagar was empty, everyone had run away," she said.

The Bhopal gas tragedy, touted as the world's worst industrial disaster, had claimed the lives of several thousand people after deadly gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984. (ANI)