Bhopal gas leak victims begin indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi

Victims of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy began an indefinite fast in New Delhi, pressuring the government for additional compensation.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy is one of the worst industrial disasters in history. It was 12 a.m. on December 3, 1984 when 40 tonnes of toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in central Bhopal city, killing thousands and condemning thousands more to chronic illness.

The government says around 3,500 died as a result of the disaster. Activists using mortality rates for survivors issued by the Indian Council for Medical Research calculate that 25,000 people died both in the immediate aftermath and in the years that followed.

Activists say a further 100,000 people who were exposed to the gas continue to suffer today from sicknesses such as cancer, blindness, respiratory difficulties, immune and neurological disorders and female reproductive disorders. Children of affected women have been born with birth defects, they add.

An activist fighting for gas leak victims Satinath Sarangi, said the protesters will continue to sit on an indefinite hunger strike till their demands are met.

"Our first demand is that every gas victim should get an additional compensation of rupees one lakh. Our second demand is that in 2010 the federal government had asked the Supreme Court to intervene to rectify the data and figures of the number of deaths and those suffering. The Union Carbide and its present owner Dow Chemicals should give the required additional compensation. We also demand data relating to the number of death and the sufferers should be rectified," said Sarangi.

Environmentalists claim the site is still contaminated and "a disaster within a disaster" is occurring as it slowly poisons the drinking water of thousands of Indians.

Meanwhile, a thriller movie, "Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain", starring Hollywood actors Martin Sheen and Kal Penn, was released at an international festival that documents events leading up to the world's worst industrial disaster and its devastating aftermath.