Rallies demanding compensation for the victims, burning of effigies of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson and an all-religion prayer meeting marked the 26th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy.
The victims burnt an effigy of Anderson in front of the defunct Union Carbide factory and protested inadequate compensation awarded to them recently after the June 7 court verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case.
An all-religion prayer meeting was held at the Central Library ground to pay homage to the victims of the tragedy in presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Mr. Chouhan said bringing happiness to the lives of the people who suffered the most because of the gas tragedy will be the real tribute to the tragedy victims.
“Development should not take place at the cost of human lives,” he said.
State’s Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta, local MLAs Dhruv Narayan Singh and Arif Aqeel were among others present on the occasion.
A rally protesting inadequate compensation was also taken out from Bharat Talkies to the Union Carbide. A meeting was held at the Yaadgaar-e-Shahjahani Park to protest the tragedy.
Convenor of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Gas Sangthan, Abdul Jabbar heaped criticism on the governments at the Centre and in State for failing to do anything for the gas victims.
The Communist Party of India also staged a demonstration where an effigy of Anderson was burnt.
Deadly methyl isocyanate gas that leaked from the Union Carbide plant on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, created havoc in Bhopal, killing over 3000 and injuring lakhs of others in the world’s worst industrial disaster.
