The Parliament on Friday remembered the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy on its twenty-sixth anniversary with Vice President Hamid Ansari saying the human tragedy of unparalleled magnitude had been compounded by “indifferent attitude” of the authorities.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha observed silence after paying tributes to thousands of people who died in the tragedy that took place on the night of December 2, 1984 due to leakage of gas from the Union Carbide’s pesticide plant.
In the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Ansari said, “The tragedy still haunts us in the form of incapacitated people and children born with deformities. It was indeed a human tragedy of unparalleled magnitude which shocked the conscience of the world.
“The criminal human folly that caused this tragedy has been compounded by indifferent attitude in subsequent years. It is incumbent on us, morally and legally, to do our utmost to support the surviving victims in every manner possible.”
In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar said 26 years ago thousands of people lost their lives and many were affected due to leakage of the deadly methyl isocyanate gas from the plant. She said a pledge should be taken to adopt measures to prevent occurrence of such incidents in the future.
