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Headlines : CorporationsBhopal: hundreds of new victims are born each year
Over 100,000 victims of Bhopal – some survivors and others children of survivors – continue to struggle with medical bills and other expenses caused by the negligence of Union Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical. Since the disaster in 1985, the Indian government has performed dismally in providing funds for cleaning up contamination and dealing with health problems, and Dow has refused to cough up its share of the cost. As both the government and the company squabble over who should pay, activists are demanding action, with some now beginning a sit-in protest in Delhi.
Unfortunately, as this article reminds us, the number of victims continues to rise through birth defects and illnesses arising from either the initial disaster or subsequent contamination.
[Posted By Szamko]Republished from The Guardian
Hundreds of children are still being born with birth defects as a result of the world’s worst industrial disaster 23 years ago in the central Indian town of Bhopal, say campaigners. They are demanding that the Indian government provide immediate medical care and research the “hidden” health impacts.
More than two decades ago, white clouds of toxic gas escaped from American multinational Union Carbide’s pesticide plant. The gas killed 5,000 people that night and 15,000 more in the following weeks – and doctors say that a new generation is being affected.
The true legacy of the disaster is only now coming to light. The Indian government stopped all research on the medical effects of the gas cloud 14 years ago, without explanation. Despite the country’s supreme court ordering that the children of victims receive insurance, more than 100,000 remain without cover.
Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.
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Indian police detain 80 protesters from Bhopal
Police detained 80 people who walked nearly 500 miles from the site of a catastrophic 1984 gas leak in central India to protest Monday outside the prime minister’s residence, an organizer said.
The protesters, including 52 children, were calling for the site of the Bhopal gas leak to be cleaned up and for survivors to be compensated, said Rachna Dhingra, a spokeswoman for Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
...The protesters want an official panel to work on social, economic and medical rehabilitation for the gas victims, and to arrange for the clean up of the site and drinking water in the area, said Nityanand Jayaraman, an organizer.