By MM Special correspondent,
New Delhi, 4 Dec 2014 : Aam Admi Party said on Wednesday that Bhopal gas tragedy is about a continuing tragedy because of the inability of successive central and Madhya Pradesh state governments to provide compensation and medical relief to the victims.
Today, they continue to suffer and die only because even medical data on the long term and chronic effects of killer gas on the people of Bhopal has not even been collected. So government continues to maintain that only 5298 died and only 6199 people have been permanently disabled.
The world’s worst man made industrial disaster, Bhopal gas tragedy took place 30 years ago. This horrific and devastating industrial disaster led to huge loss of life then and for generations after. But the tragedy of Bhopal is not confined to the night of December 2-3, 1984.
“But this is not all. We know today that tonnes of toxic waste has been left in the factory compound by the Union Carbide India Limited, which was controlled by its US headquarters. These hazardous waste are contaminating groundwater and adding to the health burden of the victims. There is no closure in Bhopal because government, after government, has continued to deny justice to the suffering victims”.
The party resolved today in the memory of the victims of the world’s worst industrial disaster that it will share their grief and bring them justice and will continue to fight till the following things are done :
1. Appropriate medical care to all victims of the gas disaster and subsequent contamination is provided.
2. Decontaminate Union Carbide site and ground water at the very earliest so that the hazardous waste poisoning the land is removed
3. Establish liability of Dow Chemicals (successor of Union Carbide Corporation) for the toxic waste lying at the site and make it pay for decontamination
4. Build a strong corporate liability regime in the country so that no Bhopal-type incident happens again. We know that even if we have not had another Bhopal scale disaster, we have mini-bhopals every day. Companies are polluting groundwater, releasing toxic gases into the air and jeopardising workers safety because of industrial accidents. This must stop.
it ask countrymen that they must keep Bhopal in our consciousness and only then will bring justice to the victims of the disaster and make sure that nothing like this happens again.
