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Survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy launch weeklong protest | Ahead of 25th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy, survivors of the tragedy have launched a week-long protest to vent their ire against inaction of the State government to remove the toxic waste from the vicinity of Union Carbide's plant where the gas leak took place.
The survivors of the tragedy, through this protest intend to vent their ire against
the State government for its inaction in clearing the toxic waste from the vicinity
of Union Carbide's plant where the gas leak took place in 1984. Bhopal Gas Peedit
Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
and Bhopal Group for Information and Action, have joined hands with the victims
of the tragedy to belie the government's claim that the waste is not hazardous
through the protest. The protest has been named 'Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kate' (a traditional
saying in Hindi to mean that the crow bites the liar). "There is a saying that
the crow bites those who lie. So, we want to show that how the Madhya Pradesh
government, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Babulal Gaur are saying that
in Bhopal nobody is sick because of the gas tragedy. They say that people here
are drinking 100 percent pure water and that the factory grounds are also 100
percent safe. Thus the black crow is the only cure for such white lies and that's
why we have started this campaign called Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kate (a traditional
saying in Hindi to mean the crow bites the liar)," said Satinath Sarangi, Convenor,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action. It's a protest of its kind. The highlights
of this protest have been the victims cooking a 'poison-free feast' and extending
an invitation to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and
the Local Self Government Minister, Babulal Gaur and all the other bureaucrats
and ministers to partake the food. The feast is prepared from the same toxins
lying outside the Union Carbide plant and also the water drawn from the hand pumps
in that neighbourhood. However, none of the invitees responded. "This chemical
is going into the water borings and the commoners are forced to drink this contaminated
water. If Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Babulal Gaur say that there are no chemicals,
then we want them to come and eat this and then we'll understand that this is
not contaminated," noted Hazrabi, a victim of the lethal gas leak from the Union
Carbide plant, Bhopal. More than 3,500 people died in the days and weeks after
toxic fumes spewed out of a pesticide plant in Bhopal on the night of December
2, 1984. Officials have confirmed that at least 15,000 people have died from cancer
and other ailments related to the toxic gas leak. Activists have put the toll
at 33,000 and claimed that toxins from thousands of tonnes of chemicals lying
in and around the site have seeped into the ground and contaminated the water
sources. Union Carbide in 1984 accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy and
established a $100 million charitable trust fund to build a hospital for the victims.
Later Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals. Union Carbide also paid 470
million dollars to the Indian government in 1989 in a settlement reached after
a protracted legal battle. The victims were paid 25,000 rupees in case of illness
and 100,000 rupees or so to the next of kin of those killed. Michigan-based Dow
Chemical says it is not responsible for the clean up as it never owned or operated
the plant at the time of the tragedy. The Madhya Pradesh state government has
taken possession of land and the abandoned plant.
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