The Hindu : Front Page : Desperate step by gas victims outside PM’s residence

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Thursday, May 22, 2008
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Desperate step by gas victims outside PM’s residence

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Anu Pushkarna

DRAWING ATTENTION: Policemen removing Bhopal gas leak survivors protesting outside the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Forty Bhopal gas leak survivors, including 15 children and 23 women, chained themselves to the railings around the Prime Minister’s residence here on Wednesday afternoon demanding speedy resolution of their demands.

The survivors — under the banner of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, and the Bhopal Group for Information and Action — were demanding legal action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals.

Special commission

They also wanted an empowered Special Commission set up to oversee the rehabilitation of gas victims.

Survivors of the 1984 gas tragedy and victims of water contamination have been on a dharna in New Delhi for the past 55 days seeking an audience with the Prime Minister.

According to estimates by the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, at least one gas victim succumbs to the long-term effects of the toxic gas every day.

“Insensitive”

The protesters accused the Prime Minister of being “insensitive” to the plight of the victims, who include a large number of women and children.

In April 2006, the Prime Minister met a delegation of victims and promised to do all that was within his powers to rehabilitate them, and everything within the law to bring the corporates to account.

Two years down the line, even the simplest demand of clean water had not been fulfilled, the protesters said.

Protesters’ charge

Rather than take action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals, the government had actively promoted its investment in India and shielded the companies from legal fallout relating to a host of cases, including bribery and sale of confiscated goods, they alleged.

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