Chronicle Reporter, Bhopal
A torchlight procession will be taken out on December 2 and a march to the abandoned Union Carbide factory on December 3. Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that the march will be organized jointly by five gas NGOs.
“The world will be watching us on December 3 and we will tell them how we have been betrayed by our own elected governments,” he said. On the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster, leaders of five organisations of the survivors came down heavily on the Central and State Governments for deliberate neglect of the victims of the disaster.
The gas NGOs charged the Central Government with violation of the survivors’ constitutional rights to proper healthcare. They denounced Madhya Pradesh government’s role in the ‘Run Bhopal Run’ event with music and dance on the day of the anniversary.
Balkrishna Namdeo, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha said, “The state government has reneged on its promises of ensuring a minimum of Rs 5 lakh compensation for the victims and providing lifelong pension to the widows of the disaster.
A total of 94 per cent of the victims have got only Rs 25,000 compensation for lifelong injuries and thousands of widows remain without pension support for more than a year.”
Kids born to survivors still suffer from toxicity
Trustees of Chingari Rasheeda Bi and Champa Devi Shukla told media that the effects of poisonous gas are visible even today and large numbers of children are born with disabilities even so many years after the tragedy.
Kids born to the survivors still suffer from the toxicity even after decades. They said with limited resources they have the capacity to accommodate only 900 children born with physical and mental deformities, while 193 of them come for regular treatment.
Shukla added that out of these, 153 kids are given special education at the centre and 38 of them attend normal schools while 19 are expected to enroll soon. A total of 57 children have started to read, 39 can take part in different activities and 63 can undertake daily chores.
Speaking on the fundings that they receive to run these programmes, Rasheeda said, “We get no government aid and survive on monetary assistance from Bhopal Medical Appeal and volunteer organisations based in London.”
The centre ropes in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, special education, nutrition and other support to treat kids with disabilities including autism, hyperactive and behavioural issues, sensory disorders, growth issues and so on.
The Trust was founded in 2006 when Rasheeda Bi and Champa Devi Shukla, both Bhopal tragedy survivors, were recognized for their activism on behalf of the thousands of survivors of the disaster and were presented with the Goldman Environmental Award.
They had invested Rs 58 lakh received as prize money into the trust. The two senior volunteers however lament that they are unable to help more kids with such deformities due to resource crunch.
All hell broke loose on the old city of Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, when 40 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas accidentally leaked from the Union Carbide plant, killing thousands and causing grievous damage to thousands more.
Carbide waste contaminating groundwater: Sambhavna Trust Sambhavna Trust Clinic has expressed concern at the large number of families that have fallen ill and suffering on account of consuming drinking water poisoned by Union Carbide’s hazardous wastes.
Members of the Trust told media on Friday that the Carbide waste has poisoned groundwater that the people are consuming. They said that the number of patients of contaminated groundwater is twice compared to the population exposed to Union Carbide toxic gases in 1984.
The Trust has urged the government to provide free healthcare to those who are affected from drinking poisoned water. Ayurvedic Physician at the clinic Mrithyunjay Mali said among the survivors there are around 19.8% Union Carbide gas-exposed victims who have complained of abdominal pain. However the percentage of those exposed to contaminated groundwater is 31.2% that is almost double.
