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Bhopal: Bearing the brunt for 25 years

Who could have imagined the agony and suffering that the chilly night of 2/3 December 1984 brought with it?

Devika Chhibber
Who could have imagined the agony and suffering that the chilly night of 2/3 December 1984 brought with it? After a tiring day, when the residents of Bhopal were fast asleep in their cozy and comfortable dwellings, a catastrophe struck the city of lakes. It consumed numerous lives, destroyed several families, widowed many and left countless orphaned. Some thought it was smoke; others thought that something on the lines of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had happened; but nobody in their wildest dreams could have ever contemplated the suffering the incident would inflict on future generations. Sweeping over the city in a four-knot northwesterly breeze, the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) from Union Carbide India Limited’s (UCIL) pesticide plant at midnight exposed more than 500,000 people to the poisonous gas. The first official immediate death toll was 2,400, which grew to a total of 3,787 deaths, many of which occurred within a span of 72 hours. The actual toll may never be anticipated, for it continues in those who are born in the city. The victims of the dreadful homicide have horrendous tales to remember: Fatima Begum, now 72, of JP Nagar was sleeping with her children when all of a sudden she felt being choked. Waking up, she saw a huge black cloud of smoke in her room. Unable to understand, she hugged her two children tightly in her arms and ran outside, leaving all her belongings behind. Recollecting her memories, she says, “I tried to save my children but darkness soon enveloped everything. I started vomiting, felt giddy and lost consciousness. Next day when I woke up, I was partially blind, my eyes were itching and my husband and son were dead. That frightening night brought a lot of suffering in my life.” Another victim, Ahsaan Malik’s story is more agonizing. He lost his whole family to the disaster and suffers from breathlessness and cleft lip. “I received compensation of Rs 25,000 three times and Rs 200 for some months. But these days, is anything possible in such a meager income? Worse, even the government has politicised the whole incident. Our woes hold no importance to them. They should have at least ensured some sort of employment for the victims.” Every family retells the same incidents of the fateful night, but the distress in their voice portrays various painful emotions. Some or the other member of each household still suffers from the disastrous aftermath. Leave alone fringe benefits, even medicines don’t come easy to them. One patient, 58 years old Pushpa Dwivedi, says, “Having pain in joints has become a regular problem for me now. I live 10 kms away from here (the hospital). We have to visit the doctor once every 15 days. All my family members suffer from one or the other problem. My granddaughter is mentally retarded. She is 8 years old and is unable to pass her nursery class since 3 years.” On being asked as to whether proper medical attention was being provided to the victims or not, Dr. Mohd Ali Qaiser, the physician answered, “The suffering during those days was worse. Bodies of human-beings, animals could be seen lying everywhere. There was no place to cremate or bury them. Bodies were burnt using petrol. Some were submerged in the river and the rest were buried in the ground. Union Carbide had the antidote, but did not provide the same. The tragedy left a deep impact on me and persuaded me to take up medicine as profession. Now, although the situation has improved, still many more steps need to be taken.” He further stated that breathlessness, abdomen pain, repeated infections, skin allergies and low immunity are the basic problems observed in several patients. Life is very difficult for those who lived through the tragedy. Shahid Noor’s outburst is not without reason. He was among the 28 children, who were orphaned in that catastrophe and was given fake promises of employment. His grandmother shooed me away first, but later on just cried. Even Noor was quite hesitant to talk initially but, after repeated requests, he said, “Anderson (then Chairman and CEO of Union Carbide) will be dead after some years. We have waited for 25 years, what difference would another 25 make? Doctors call us as patient No 9. Private Doctors don’t want to visit us because they won’t be paid adequately. Rich people get treated easily whereas the poor ones suffer. Nobody wants to know about our pain. You journalists will also promote your papers with our pitiful emotions and celebrate our 25 years of pain and loss.” Children who were not even born at that time have no different opinion. Two such kids, Azam and Mausim, childishly claim that for them this date brings a sort of joy as more and more foreigners visit their city. Sometimes they get delicious things to eat and trendy clothes to wear but that’s all. “What comes in Rs 25000 nowadays? We are not even educated; we don’t have money for daily meals. If government wants to do something for us then they should ensure that we go to school and our parents are given some sort of employment.” Zeharlal, a teenage boy who was christened after the gas leakage, says he used to feel bad because of his name but now had got accustomed to it. “My mother died while giving birth to me on that horrible night. People say that I am not fit mentally. May be I am crazy. I lost everything I had and now any kind of monetary compensation cannot help me bear the endless pain.” A recent newspaper report said, "The Centre should step in and make available funds to adequately compensate the Bhopal gas tragedy victims," said BGPMUS convener Abdul Jabbar. He pointed out that the victims of Uphar Cinema (Delhi) were given Rs 18 lakh each by way of compensation while the victims of World Trade Organisation (WTO) in US received Rs 24 crore each. In comparison to the Uphaar and WTO, the Bhopal Gas victims have not received adequate compensation, he said. GP Mali, Current SDM, Bhopal recalls his experience, “We were students that time. Everybody was sleeping; suddenly there was this hue and cry. People were running towards Sehore, which was around 40 kms away from Bhopal. My eyes were burning. It was smog, but it felt like smoke. A scene of devastation gripped the city of Bhopal. Even today when I recount those days I can’t imagine this is the same city where 25 years back everything went black and dreadful on that tragic night.” Arun Gupta, an air-hostess training institute owner, was a senior maintenance officer in the Union Carbide factory at the time the leakage occurred. “On papers the death toll was 2400 but actually more than 24000 died. The effect was felt till the New Market area. It was just like the battlefield of Mahabharata where as far as you could see, only dead bodies were there. I was not on duty, but the workers in the factory wore masks which saved some of them. It was sheer negligence towards maintenance of machines because of which the incident took place. I was among the officers to be suspended. We were not even compensated; our group of 11 is still fighting for justice.” Rajkumar Keswani, who alerted the city prior to the accident, recalls, “After the death of Mohd. Ashraf, a plant operator at Union Carbide in December 1981, I started investigating the issue since I was aware of earlier gas leaks in the plant. After a nine month long investigation, I reached the conclusion that the plant was posing a threat to the entire city. This was because the Carbide management was flouting all safety norms. This got consolidated further when I discovered a safety audit report conducted by an audit team of UCC, USA in 1982. “The contents of the report verified my own findings. When the issue was raised in the state assembly, the then minister denied any such danger and assured the House that there were foolproof safety systems in place. I also wrote to CM Arjun Singh to investigate the veracity of my reports and take some action to prevent disaster. At the same time, I sent a petition to the Supreme Court seeking its intervention, but all was in vain.” A grand memorial idea irks Bhopal gas tragedy victims today. The Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Babulal Gaur thinks that the memorial is a good way to attract tourists. He also debates over the extent of the accident’s reach, saying that the effects of the poisonous gas was in 56 wards, but that only 20 have been compensated. It is nauseating to see how leaders politicise such issues for votes. The horror of the night, as described by the many witnesses and victims is indescribable. The ache of the tragedy will never cease to throb in the hearts and minds of the people of Bhopal. Union Carbide Corp’s response to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was in line with the image it held in public and it has done nothing to restore its image even 25 years after the disaster. 16 nations worldwide are going to mark the Bhopal gas tragedy this year. Yes 25 years have passed, but tears-stained eyes still hope that their voices will be heard and woes would end someday. May be someday……...