Memorial of 1984 gas tragedy to come up in Bhopal
Bhopal, October 16
Nearly 32 years after the Bhopal gas tragedy in which thousands of people were killed, the Madhya Pradesh government on Sunday announced that it would build a memorial of one of the world's worst industrial disaster.
It would come up on the premises of the defunct Union Carbide factory here from where toxic gas spewed out on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, wreaking havoc.
"Like Hiroshima Memorial, a memorial of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy will be built," Minister of State for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Vishvas Sarang said here after inspecting the defunct factory.
The concept and the plan of the memorial are ready and the work would start in two to three months, he said.
Sarang said 10 tonnes of toxic waste lying in the factory has been disposed of by Ramki Private Limited, Pithampur. "We will request the Central Pollution Control Board to incinerate the remaining waste lying in the factory," he said.
The state government was working hard to ensure that the victims of the gas tragedy got justice, he said.
NGO Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udhyog Sangathan (BGPMUS), which works for the survivors of the tragedy, thanked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Sarang for announcement of the memorial.
BGPMUS leader Abdul Jabbar said it had been demanding memorial of the tragedy for the last two decades.
The state government should also request the Centre to strongly pursue the curative petition filed in the Supreme Court seeking compensation and medical facilities for the tragedy survivors, he demanded.
The tragedy occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984, at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in the city.
In the deadly incident, over five lakh people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals.
The toxic substance made its way into and around the shanty towns located near the plant. The initial investigation was conducted entirely by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
As per reports, the official immediate death toll was 2,259 while the government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.
A government affidavit in 2006 stated that the leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries whereas others estimate that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas related diseases. Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) contends water entered the tank through an act of sabotage. — Agencies
