Victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have demanded that Union Carbide and its owner Dow Chemical pay additional compensation for the long term injuries caused to the gas exposed people as evidenced in the ongoing COVID 19 Pandemic.
As per the victims, the COVID-19 death rate among the gas exposed population is 6.5 times more that that of their counterparts in the Bhopal district. While Dow Chemical has used the pandemic to cut thousands of jobs and make more profit by producing hand sanitizers, it appears to be loking the other way when it comes to the lasting damage its subsidiary caused in Bhopal. Dow Chemical continues to evade the pending civil, criminal and environmental liabilities of Union Carbide in the city.
Rashida Bee, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, said, “We have official records that show that the gas exposed population, that is 17% of the district’s population of 2.8 million, has contributed to 56% of the COVID-19 deaths in the district so far.”
Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that Union Carbide’s own documents state that the injuries caused by exposure to Methyl Isocyanate are permanent in nature yet more than 90% of the exposed people have been paid only 500 US dollars compensation for temporary injuries. It is a pity that it took a global pandemic to highlight the injustice meted to the victims of the world’s worst industrial disaster.”
