Around midnight on the intervening night of December 2–3, 1984, the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins, resulting in the exposure of over 500,000 people.
Some 25 years after the gas leak, 390 tons of toxic chemicals abandoned at the UCIL plant continue to leak and pollute the groundwater in the region and affect thousands of Bhopal residents who depend on it
The victims of the biggest industrial accident are yet to receive succour. “The Bhopal Gas Tragedy “ has been lost in the collective consciousness of the nation. Yes, life has to go on - we must light candles and offer prayers for the victims of September, 11 2001 - but do we spare a thought for those who lost their lives in poorer nations like our own?Or is life too cheap here?
Despite a quarter of a century having passed the factory site has not been cleaned up. More than 100,000 people continue to suffer from health problems. Efforts to provide rehabilitation – both medical care and measures to address the socio-economic effects of the leak – have fallen far short of what is needed.
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