With little over a month to go for the next hearing of the curative petitions on the Bhopal gas tragedy in Supreme Court, five organisations working for the rights of the survivors have urged the State Government to revise figures of disaster-related injury and death based on hospital records and research data.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, the organisations noted that the State Government has sought compensation for only 5,295 deaths in the curative petition, which comes up for hearing on September 2, whereas in a criminal matter before the apex court it has itself presented a figure of 15,342 deaths attributable to the gas disaster.
They also urged the State Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh, to ensure that the Central Government paid the additional compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs to all the victims of the disaster without exception.
Noting that only 40,000 out of the total 5.6 lakh claimants have been given the additional compensation, the organisations complained that both the State and Central governments have arbitrarily assumed that over 90 per cent of the survivors to be temporarily injured by the gas exposure whereas Union Carbide’s own document stated that damage was permanent.
The activists noted that the Chief Minister himself had in his letter of December 8, 2011 to the then Prime Minister had stated that a large number of gas victims have been wrongfully denied the additional compensation.
“On the 27th Anniversary of the disaster [on December 3, 2011] the Chief Minister gave us written assurance that he would accompany us to the Prime Minister and argue for additional compensation for all gas victims. He must keep his promise now,” they stated in a statement.
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, Children against Dow/Carbide, Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangarsh Morch, and Bhopal Group for Information and Action addressed the press conference.
