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INDIA - CITY OF BHOPAL - INDUSTRIAL POISONOUS GAS LEAK CRISIS

Deaths - Lingering Health Disorders - Women & Girls - Call for Rights & Justice

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal

 

Bhopāl is a city in central India. It is the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh

 

Bhopal, India, attracted international attention as a consequence of the Bhopal disaster, when the Union Carbide plant (now a part of Dow Chemical Company) leaked deadly methyl isocyanate gas during the night of December 3, 1984. The poisonous gas killed thousands of people in the city and its neighbouring areas, and thousands of others still suffer from its effects even two decades later. Since then, Bhopal has been a center of protests and campaigns which have been joined by many people across the globe.

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Via WOMEN'S FEATURE SERVICE

http://www.wfsnews.org:80/

India - New Delhi

 

India: Bhopal Survivors - Women's Lens

The Tragedy Continues at Bhopal  

By Sunandita Mehrotra

Bhopal (Women's Feature Service) - "We were forced
to undertake this grueling walk because the Prime
Minister has failed to keep his word. This time, we
are not going back till we get a public declaration
from him that he will deliver on his promise," says an
angry Hazra Bi, a Bhopal survivor, who has undertaken
the 35-day march for the second time from Bhopal to
the Capital (the first march was in 2006). "After all,
what is it that we women are asking for, only water
for our children instead of poison, and basic medical
attention. The Prime Minister can't even give us this
simple assurance. He's too busy shaking hands with the
mighty."

Their earlier 'padyatra' (march) to Delhi in 2006, had
been followed by a six-day hunger strike that ended
only when the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
promised to meet their age-old demands of
rehabilitation, pensions and medical assistance.
Consequently, a Coordination Committee was
established. However, little has been achieved through
the three meetings held so far.

For the marchers, the killer night of December 2-3,
1984, remains etched in their memories. "That night,
everywhere I looked there was smoke. Our eyes watered.
Our kids began throwing up. We felt we couldn't
breathe. That was just the beginning of the
nightmare," recalls Guddi, 47, whose husband died
shortly after the 1984 Bhopal gas leak, one of the
world's worst industrial disasters.

The incident took place in the early hours of the
morning of December 3, 1984, in the heart of Bhopal. A
Union Carbide subsidiary pesticide plant released 40
tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, killing
approximately 3,800 people.

Guddi and her four children may have escaped death at
that time but they have not been able to get over the
tragedy. Of her four children, only one is physically
and mentally fit. The others suffer from various forms
of retardation, including loss of speech, courtesy the
effects of breathing, eating and drinking toxic
wastes. Having been left to fend for themselves, the
family has a hard time making ends meet.

Guddi now works as a daily wage labourer, the sole
means of income available to her. "The soil is so full
of poison that nothing grows. And if we keep cattle
like goats or cows for the house, they drink the water
and die," she says.

This is the plight of about 25,000 survivors, of whom
50 undertook this 800-kilometre journey on foot to
reach the Capital in order to have their grievances
heard.

One apparent step taken by the centre in providing
'relief' was to set up hospitals specifically for
those suffering from the effects of the gas leakage or
contamination of water. But most women who were part
of the march reveal, "We have gone several times to
the government hospital, but there are hardly any
doctors present. And even if they are present they
take one look at us and shut the door. If we insist
they give us some medicines, they prescribe just
anything. The medicines never work."

Another survivor says with bitterness, "My eldest
daughter was born in 1983. She never grew beyond three
feet, her face is bloated and she menstruates once in
three to four months. When we took her to the
hospital, they wouldn't even register the case."

Most women reveal that their chests hurts, they seem
forever short of breath and that headaches are a
regular symptom along with immense irregularities in
the menstrual cycle.

Besides health problems, employment is another major
concern, with the complete failure of agriculture and
absolutely stagnant development. Raisa Bi explains,
"There is no decent work for my sons in Bhopal. The
only opportunities they have are as low-wage
labourers. My daughter can't get married and nor can
she work. She has always been unwell. She menstruates
twice a month."

Akhila Banu joins in, "There are 18 villages around
the area where contaminated water flows. Around 30,000
of us live there. The government has suggested that we
all shift our homes. But to where? Besides, wherever
we go, we dig for water and the poison follows us.
When we drink the water our eyes hurt, when we bathe
our skins burn. Our daughters have severe headaches
and stomach aches."

Talking about the growing trends of retardation
visible at birth amongst the third generation victims
in Bhopal, Tulsi Bai says, "How can my daughter have a
child knowing that the milk she will feed it will be
the poison I fed her with. Anyway the prospect of
women giving birth to normal children are remote."

Firdoz, 40, says she suffers from severe breathing
problems as do her three children. In fact, her
daughter, Sumitra, 13, weighs less than 10 kilograms.
"I want the government to give me medical attention
and work. If not me, at least my kids. But we have
been asking for 23 years with no response. We are
living only because we have to, if we had died that
night, it would have been better."

The march, however, seems to have given a reason to
hope for the future and strength to fight in the
present. Lila Bai says, "On the way people have been
very supportive and generous, giving us rice, wheat
and so much clean water. Never in my life have I seen
so much clean water."

Over 25,000 people in Bhopal consume contaminated
water. Toxic wastes of over 50,000 tonnes remain
buried in the soil, with no move towards their final
disposal in sight. The government inaction has placed
the denizens of Bhopal at the receiving end of two
disasters: the 1984-gas leak; and the ongoing water
contamination.

Future generations are in danger and any committee set
up for relief would have to work for over 30 years to
ensure any sort of betterment. And, according to some
estimates, at least Rs 20,000 million would have to be
pumped in for relief activity.

"Around 23,000 people have died and the collusion
still continues. We are determined to break this
corporate-government nexus that plays havoc with
peoples lives," says a determined Hazra Bi, speaking
up for 25,000 people who survive, although just
barely.





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