Bhopal chlorine gas leakage brings back grim memories of Dec 1984 Gas Tragedy  

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): The chlorine gas leakage incident brought back the grim memories of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. The residents of the Mother India Colony said they could feel the same shudder down your spine on hearing the news of chlorine gas leakage from a water filter plant in the area. A 900 kg chlorine cylinder leaked at the water treatment plant of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation at the Idgah Hills, Shahjanabad area on Wednesday

“It was around 6.30 pm when my lungs started choking and I could feel something itchy in my nose and eyes. The kids at home were crying because they were not able to breathe properly, some were coughing. I could sense something was wrong and the memories of December 3,1984 struck hardm,” said Kanhiyalal Choudhary (50) to Free Press.

Thousands of people were killed and more than five lakh affected after inhaling a toxic gas that spewed out from the now defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.

Another resident, Shekh Azaz, said that he was too young then, but he still remembers the horror of that night. “On Wednesday I felt something amiss. When we heard of gas leakage we could only remember the horrors of 1984.”

“The people were claiming that gas would not harm but taking into account the past experience I decided to leave the house on Wednesday,” he added.

Vimla Bai (48) and Geeta Bai (45) both neighbours said that when they heard of the chlorine gas leakage they too panicked like others in the locality as what occurred to their mind was the horrific night of December 1984. “Although we were young then, we have heard the horror stories of people lying dead on roads and that sends shivers down our spine. Whenever any incident of gas leakage takes place it brings back the memories of 1984. We were really frightened after hearing the news of gas leakage at the water filter on Wednesday.”