Nine-year-old Zehra Jawed runs like the wind but until recently struggled to stand or sit. She is the only child of Nusrat Jahan and vegetable vendor Mohammed Jawed--a victim of the Bhopal Poisonous Gas Leak of 1984. She lives near the Union Carbide pesticide factory from where Methyl Isocyanate leaked in December 1984, killing thousands and maiming several others. Since 1984, her father suffers from poor vision and an incurable cough.
When Zehra was six months old, her parents realised her development was not at pace with her peers. At age three she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy which means her movements are retarded and her nerves damaged. Her parents decided not to have any more children.
So far, no clear link has been established between congenital disorders in children of gas victims and the gas leak itself. A study by the National Institute for Research on Environmental Health, Bhopal, on congenital disorders is still underway. There is also no definitive survey available on the health of children of gas victims.
The Bhopal Memorial Research Centre and Hospital is the referral and tertiary care centre for gas victims. So far, there is no public sector rehabilitation centre for children of victims--among whom there is a prevalence of congenital defects. Jawed's family received Rs. 25,000 compensation after the Bhopal Settlement of 1989. Children like Zehra however aren't recognised as gas victims and are not yet eligible for government aid.
"The government doctors said she is useless and that she would not survive for long. She could not sit down on her own or stand up. Even today, she can only speak a few words and her vision is blurry," Ms. Jahan told The Hindu.
When they were at hope's end, Zehra's parents got in touch with the Chingari Trust that runs a rehabilitation centre for children with special needs. Since its inception in 2006, Chingari-- founded by gas victims Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla-- has helped 740 children and grandchildren of gas victims.
"She is given physio and speech therapy here. There are also games that have improved her abilities to do daily tasks. She can now stand up and sit down without losing her balance. She attends nursery class in a regular school now," said Ms. Jahan.
Chingari's physiotherapist Poonam Gaur says Zehra has improved remarkably since she started visiting the centre. "Cerebral Palsy is a common problem in the areas which were affected by the gas tragedy. Zehra's motor issues have been resolved to a great extent. Government hospitals have physiotherapy units but since this is the only rehabilitation centre, we are not able to cater to all affected children," she said.
Chingari was founded with the money Ms. Bee and Ms. Shukla won with the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004, for their activism. "There was no government assistance or rehabilitation and CM Shivraj Chouhan has never even visited us despite inviting him several times. We wanted to do something for gas victims to protect their dignity. When we first hired a therapist we realised that our children are not useless even if they are physically and mentally challenged," Ms. Bee told this newspaper.
There is a waiting list for children to get in as the number of third generation victims increase and the space to accommodate 200 children remains constant.
Although aware of what's going on around her, Zehra struggles to process language. When her father returns home with his vegetable cart, she shouts "tamatar, tamatar" (tomatoes). She comes to Chingari every day after school. Zehra realises she's different from other school children but seems perennially excited on the playground and at the annual protests to mark the anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy on December 3.
