Four decades of Bhopal gas tragedy: A wound that still hasn't healed

Complete disposal of toxic waste of UCIL plant is still pending, water in surrounding area is contaminated, and victims' endless wait for justice continues

Four decades ago on this day - the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984 - the slow-paced city of Bhopal was suddenly thrown into chaos. Forty-five tonnes of the deadly isocyanate gas that leaked from the Union Carbide India (UCIL) factory in JP Nagar, Bhopal changed the city’s identity forever.

 

Even after four decades, the wounds of the city have not healed. Complete disposal of the toxic waste of the UCIL plant is still pending, water in the surrounding area is contaminated, and the victims’ endless wait for justice continues.

 

Recalling that dreadful night, Padma Shri awardee and famous litterateur late Manzoor Ehtesham once said, “I still remember everything. It was late at night. Malavika Sarkar's Kathak recital was being aired on television. Suddenly, someone coughed. I called out to my wife Sarwar to know who was coughing at this time. Just then my brother's wife knocked on the door and said that gas had leaked from Union Carbide. We came out of the house. There was a horrific scene on the road. It was as if the air had choked. It was suffocating. People were lying on the roads like wax sculptures. My younger brother took out the Jeep. The people running on the road got on the Jeep without listening to anything. What could we say to them? And who would listen to us? My sister-in-law and daughter Sadaf were left behind. I and Sarwar sat on the bonnet of the Jeep. After reaching Arera Colony, we took a friend's car and went home again. No one was found there. We called out at the Roshanpura intersection and found our family and we were able to be together again. That night has changed all of us forever.”

 

That night, the deadly gas engulfed 40 square kilometres of Bhopal, inflicting a wound that may never be erased from the body and mind of the city. Thousands of people died. That pain has turned 40 years old today. The gas had engulfed a quarter of Bhopal's population at the time, about 200,000 people. Although the official death toll is around 4,000 to 5,000, independent agencies estimate that the tragedy killed 25,000 to 30,000 people, and left thousands permanently sick and disabled.

 

After four decades and despite several court orders, hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste are lying at the UCIL premises. According to a 2010 government study, apart from the 337 tonnes of toxic waste at the site, 1.1 million tonnes of soil is contaminated. The groundwater in the vicinity has also been found to be severely polluted. Several government and non-government studies show the presence of heavy metals and other toxic substances in the groundwater around the factory.

 

Rachna Dhingra, a member of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, says that groundwater pollution is constantly spreading to new areas as the toxic waste has not been disposed of properly. Highlighting the misclassification of gas victims, Dhingra said, “Union Carbide’s own documents state that the damage caused by exposure to methyl isocyanate is of permanent nature, yet 93 per cent of the compensation claimants have been considered temporarily damaged by the government. This is the main reason for gas victims getting inadequate compensation.”