Bhopal gas tragedy victims to 'treat' govt officials in protest

Naphthol Tar Fondue, Reactor Residue Quiche, Sevin Tar Souffle, Lime Sludge Mousse — these are on the menu of “Benign Buffet” to be served to government officials and members of the state cabinet with a complimentary B’eau Pal (Bhopal) Water Cocktail on November 28 at 12 noon on the Union Carbide road. The chefs are DRDE (Defence Research and Development Establishment), Gwalior, R Vijayraghavan and Sous-chef Tapan Chakravarty of Neeri, Nagpur.

Enraged over the statement of various officials, including Vijayaraghavan and Chakravarty, the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy have planned to serve them these dishes as a mark of protest. “They have often said the toxic wastes lying at the Union Carbide’s closed facility are not toxic. Vijayaraghavan has went further to say that for a 70 kg man, there will not be any death even if he takes 200 gm by oral route. For Sevin tar, there will not be any death even if he takes 100 gm by oral route. This toxicity rate is lesser than ethyl alcohol, table salt (sodium chloride) and many of the commonly used drugs. So, we are organising a feast for them so that they can consume it and ensure us a cleaner Bhopal,” an activist of Bhopal Group for Information and Action Satinath Sarangi said.

“In this feast we will serve them with Lime sludge Naphthol tar Reactor residue, semi-processed pesticides and other chemical waste from the Union Carbide factory (at the rate of 200 gms for a person of 70 Kgs weight) and Sevin Tar (at the rate of 100 gms for a person of 70 Kgs weight). We will send special invitations to R Vijayraghavan of DRDE, Gwalior who wrote the report on toxicity of Union Carbide’s chemical waste and Tapan Chakravarty from Neeri, Nagpur who concurred with the report. We think it will be an innovative and immediate resolution of the 346 tonnes of chemical waste stored in side the abandoned factory. We will await Vijayraghavan and Chakravarti’s report on the thousands of tonnes of toxic waste lying buried in and around the factory to find other innovative solutions,” said Rachna Dhingra, an activist of Bhopal Group for Information and Action – a social organisation fighting for rights of the survivors. Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha and Bhopal Group for Information and Action have “cordially” extended the invitation.

Holding Dow Chemicals responsible for a more polluted Bhopal, Sarangi said the government at the Centre as also in the state had become puppets at the hands of Dow and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Local Self Government Minister Babulal Gaur were solely responsible for the present plight of the sufferers.

“On one hand they (the state government) have demanded Rs 980 crore from the Centre and on the other they are pronouncing the disappearance of exposure-related health problems,” he said and added, “The CM has written a letter to the prime minister and said there was no need of authoritative committee, though the prime minister had approved it.”

The social organisation and Bhopal gas survivors today issued a week-long (26 November- December 3) programme against the governments’ apathy towards the Bhopal gas issue. The campaign, this year, has been named ‘Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kate’ (Crow Bites the Liar)” to nail the government lies.