Bhopal Gas
Tragedy: A terrifying legacy still awaits those babies
By Abdul Hafees
Note: This feature story was written after attending a protest by
the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims, who had assembled at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi
on 10 November, 2014 and appealed to the government for a hike in compensation.
And the protest was part of a month-long strike ahead of the anniversary of the
disaster on 2 and 3 December.
Even after three decades, a nightmare haunts them across
generations. They are still gripped by the horror of that night. The tragedy of
the night has resulted in endless sleepless hours. What makes them edgy is that
their children born after the disaster do not know the terrifying legacy that
awaits them. While revisiting the dreadful memories after thirty long years,
they seem not to have recovered from those panic-stricken moments as the scars
re-erupt in the form of deep trauma.
Bhopal gas tragedy, which is referred to as ‘the world’s most
devastating industrial disaster,’ had rendered nearly four thousand dead and
thousands of inhabitants physically disabled, as per official estimates.
Unofficially it was found that around ten thousand people had died. The
disaster had occurred on the intervening night of 2 and 3 December, 1984. The
Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a giant pesticide plant in the country,
witnessed a leakage of a toxic chemical gas, methyl isocyanate (MIC). While the
people who lived nearby often looked at the plant with awe and some of them
earned their livelihood there, they had never speculated that the chemicals
produced there could end their lives one day.
Still traumatized by the incident that snuffed out their dreams,
some of the survivors had gathered at
Jantar Mantar, Delhi, about a month ago with placards in their hands and fire
in the hearts. Many of them were old women. Five young women were observing
indefinite waterless strike. As a result of the protests and timely
intervention of the Amnesty International, the government further hiked the
proposed compensation a little. After a settlement with the UCIL in 1989, the
government paid atotal amount of
rupees 3842 crore to 5.74 lakh victims. After the revised estimate was
approved, a group of ministers also sanctioned a hike in the redressal.
Although the government had then filed for another 7786 crore, the case is
still pending in the Supreme Court.
It is believed that if the authorities had tried to make them
aware of the precautionary measures to be adopted in case of a crisis, the worst
disaster could have been avoided. The U.S Company UCIL, which is accountable
for the disaster, renamed Dow Chemicals now, has built a hospital in the same
locality to treat the affected people. Warren Anderson, the then Union Carbide
chairman, who died a month ago, was declared a fugitive and an absconder after
the Indian government made several attempts to extradite him but he never
appeared before the court. The company appeared completely indifferent to the
fact that they have ruined the future of generations to come.
The victims along with their children still suffer from chronic
diseases which can never be cured. “Over the past years, we witnessed only one
change that was the closure of the factory; nothing else has changed. We still
encounter problems of water intoxication, respiratory and, numerous other
diseases,” says Sayeda Bi, a victim of the disaster, who lost some of her
family members in the tragedy. Though health surveys were conducted along the
site of the disaster by the concerned departments and organizations, no
remedial measures were taken to purify the contaminated water and resolve other
environmental issues.
After three decades of struggle, these people have nothing to
lose. Some lost their breadwinners; some lost their future promises. A year
ago, thedoctors observed that
“the probability of a baby being born with congenital anomalies is seven times
higher in the disaster affected areas. The effect is evident even in the third
generation.” There are around1,000 children born
with defects as a result of the disaster. Many of them would never enjoy a
childhood and go to school because some of them experience acute breathing
problems and suffer from physical disabilities.
Thirty years on, the victims of one of the worst disasters the
world has ever seen are still living on the edge thinking of the ordeal that
await their children.
Author:
Abdul Hafees is studying journalism at the Indian
Institute of Mass Communications, New Delhi.
