April 18, 2024 18:49 (IST)
Follow us:
Bhopal Gas victims chain themselves to CM's house demanding compensation
Bhopal, Sept 18 (IBNS): Survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster, neighbourhood residents of the abandoned Union Carbide factory and their supporters on Thursday locked themselves to the Chief Minister's residence with a chain seeking adequate compensation and clean up of the contaminated factory site.
Outside the CM’s residence hundreds of protesters gathered to remind the state government of its constitutional duties towards the victims of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical.
Five survivors’ and supporters’ organisations who jointly led the protest said that the action was part of the recently announced campaign around the 30th anniversary of the disaster.
The organisations demanded that the state government revise the figures of death and injury in the curative petition for additional compensation and call for its urgent hearing.
They also demanded that the state government intervene in the legal action for clean up of the contaminated site that is ongoing in the US Federal court.
“The state government has presented the figure of 15348 deaths due to the gas disaster in all its official records but the curative petition in which it says only 5295 people died,” said Balkrishna Namdeo president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha.
“Through today’s actions we hope to inspire the Chief Minister to fulfill his 3 year old promise of ensuring Rs. 5 lakh as compensation for each gas victim. This can only happen if the state government revises the curative petition," he said
Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information & Action said that 17 residents from the communities near the Union Carbide factory are seeking cleanup of contamination of soil and ground water through a suit against Union Carbide in the southern district court of New York.
“The US court has sent notice to the Madhya Pradesh government to appear in the case and present all facts but so far the government has chosen not to act. The government needs to intervene immediately because it is the owner of the factory and dumping sites that need to be cleaned up as the first priority,” he said.
The organisations held the central government equally responsible for the denial of adequate compensation and official apathy towards the critical issue of clean up of the poisoned land and water.
They said that victims of gas exposure and contamination would undertake a fast without water in New Delhi to move the central government into action.
A delegation of the organisations had recently met with the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, who is in charge of all matters concerning the Bhopal disaster. They have also conveyed the two demands and their decision to go on waterless fast to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
Know how the Indian Institute of Astrophysics brought the sunlight on Ram Lalla's forehead in Ayodhya Wed, Apr 17 2024
Late presentation of CHD multifactorial, its common reasons include financial constraint, lack of awareness: Cardiac surgeon Fri, Apr 12 2024
Pregnancy accelerates biological ageing in healthy, young adult population, finds study Fri, Apr 12 2024
ISRO receives major US space exploration award Wed, Apr 10 2024
Nobel winning physicist Peter Higgs, who theorised Higgs boson particle, dies at 94 Wed, Apr 10 2024
WHO report alerts Hepatitis virus killing 3500 daily Tue, Apr 09 2024