From Bhopal to Delhi: Gas victims demand rectification in curative petition

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Burning effigies of Dow Chemicals as protest, organising an all-religion prayer to pay tributes and a cycle rally marked the 38th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy on Saturday. From Bhopal to Delhi, gas victims raised the voice for rectification in curative petition filed in Supreme Court.

The survivors of gas leak from Union Carbide Company (UCC) plant on December 3, 1984, staged demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday. They demanded that the government should come out with accurate figures of deaths and health hazards due to disaster.

In Bhopal, gas victims demanded rectification in curative petition pending in Supreme Court. Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan organised prayers and paid tributes to those who died after inhaling poisonous gas at Yadgar-e-Shahjahani Park on Saturday.

Gas victims burnt effigy of Dow Chemical UCC plant site after taking out rally from Nadra Bus stand to UCC plant site.

Bhopal municipal council chairman Kishan Suryavanshi flagged off a cycle rally on the occasion. Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Morcha (destitute pensioners) president Balkrishna Namdev said that government did nothing for the welfare of gas victims. They torched the effigy of Warren Anderson at Neelam Park.

An unforgettable disaster: CM

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a prayer meet with the leaders of different religions to pay tributes to the victims. “Mistake and carelessness of Union Carbide Company caused an unforgettable disaster that claimed human lives on a large scale,” he said.

He laid stress on maintaining a balance between development and environment. The all-religion meet was held at Barkatullah Bhawan where the participants observed a two-minute silence in remembrance of the victims.

"If a life is lost due to human mistake, it is tragic. The mistake, negligence and carelessness of UCC caused loss of human lives," Chouhan said. The tragedy that took place 38 years ago is unforgettable, he added, according to a government statement.