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All-religion prayer meeting pays homage to Bhopal gas victims | Homage was paid to the gas tragedy victims on Thursday
at an all-religion prayer meeting held here. One of the world's most deadly industrial
disasters, the Bhopal gas tragedy killed thousands of people and caused many more
to suffer. Bhopal has long cast a shadow over India and how it handles the challenges
of a 1.1 billion, largely poor population, improve health and safety regulations,
and a fast-growing economy. The survivors of the disaster have been struggling
on their own to urge the Indian government to punish the culprits behind the incident.
Their voice also found support in state chief Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who urged
the federal government to bring the culprits to book. "I appeal to the Indian
government to bring them to justice who are responsible for such a massive tragedy
and are out on bail. They should be presented in the Indian court and they should
be definitely punished for destroying so many lives," said Chauhan. In the early
hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate
(MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by the wind to the surrounding
slums. Dow Chemical, which now owns Union Carbide, denies any responsibility saying
it bought the company a decade after Union Carbide had settled its liabilities
to the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million for the victims. The government
says around 3,500 died as a result of the disaster. Activists however calculate
that 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.
Sicknesses range from cancer, blindness, respiratory difficulties immune and neurological
disorders, female reproductive disorders as well as birth defects among children
born to affected women. But activists and lawyers representing the affected populations
from the nearby slums say the tragedy of this disaster is that it continues unabated. |
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