BHOPAL, India (AlertNet) Â? Twenty-five years have passed since one of the worldÂ?s worst industrial disasters hit the central Indian city of Bhopal, where toxic gas from a pesticide factory leaked into the air, killing thousands of people in the surrounding areas and leaving many more ill.
On the silver anniversary of the tragedy, hundreds of people gathered outside the gates of the now abandoned factory demanding justice for their continuing suffering.
WHAT HAPPENED?
In the early hours of December 3, 1984, a pesticide factory owned by U.S. multinational Union Carbide accidently released about 40 metric tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas into BhopalÂ?s atmosphere.
The wind carried the gas to surrounding areas - mainly densely populated slums - exposing around half a million people.
People woke up coughing and vomiting and many reported a severe burning sensation in their eyes and chest.
Panicked residents fled the area and many died in the stampede to get as far away from the factory as possible. Doctors say those who ran inhaled more gas than those who had some means of motorised transportation.
By morning, thousands had died and mass burials and cremations were under way. Local hospitals were overwhelmed with tens of thousands of survivors seeking medical treatment.
Health workers say many of the dead were children and people of a shorter height, mainly because the gas was denser than air and stayed close to the ground as it spread.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE AFFECTED?
The government says the disaster killed around 3,500. But activists calculate that 8,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and thousands have died of illnesses related to gas exposure in the years that followed. They say a total of 25,000 people have died since 1984.
Activists and health workers say a further 100,000 people who were exposed to the gas continue to suffer Â?chronicÂ? health problems today.
Sicknesses range from cancer, blindness, respiratory difficulties, immune and neurological disorders, female reproductive disorders as well as birth defects among children born to affected women.
WHAT HAS UNION CARBIDE DONE TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM?
The government shut the plant shortly after the disaster, and Union Carbide, which was bought by Dow Chemical in 2001, says it has done more than enough to remedy the situation. Union Carbide said it:
WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL PROTESTING AFTER 25 YEARS?
Affected communities say the compensation given was based on government figures from the immediate aftermath that are grossly under-estimated.
They say people are still dying every day due to the ill effects of the gas. Survivors are demanding that Dow Chemical pay more equitable relief to the tens of thousands who continue to suffer.
Activists and lawyers representing the affected people say the plant site has not been cleaned up and thousands of tonnes of toxic chemical waste have seeped into the soil over the years, contaminating groundwater that is drinking water for around 20,000 people.
A recent study conducted by one of IndiaÂ?s leading think-tanks, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has confirmed the presence of toxic chemicals in drinking water and says it is slowly poisoning thousands more people.
The CSE report contradicts the government's findings, saying samples taken from around the factory site were found to contain chlorinated benzene compounds and organochlorine pesticides 561 times the national standard.
Samples taken as far as 3 km (1.9 miles) away from the plant were found to have toxic chemicals 38.6 times more than the standard. The report said there could be no other source of these toxins than Union Carbide.
Activists and health workers say those drinking the water have various ailments: respiratory problems, stomach pains, skin irritations, gastric problems, diarrhoea and joint pains as a result of the water. Some also attribute birth defects in children born to women who have been drinking the water.
WHAT ARE AFFECTED COMMUNITIES DEMANDING?
A civil case is being fought in the United States against Dow Chemical and lawyers are demanding that the company pays to clean up the site, fix the water supply and give compensation to those suffering the effects of drinking the water. They also want free medical services for the sick.
A criminal case is pending against the then CEO of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, whom lawyers say is responsible for the disaster and the contamination of the soil and water around the factory. There is a warrant for Anderson's arrest in India.
Affected communities also believe the government - at central and state level - has sidelined the issue by denying any reports of contamination and not doing enough to hold Dow Chemical responsible.
They accuse authorities of colluding with the U.S. multinational since holding the company responsible would deter foreign investors who may want to set up operations in the country.
The local government denies this, saying that since there is no contamination, there is no reason to hold the company accountable.
Local officials want to make over the 89-acre (36-hectare) site to include a reference library, lecture hall and memorial to the victims of the disaster.
WHAT DOES DOW CHEMICAL SAY?
Dow Chemical says it has no responsibility for Bhopal. It says it acquired its shares of Union Carbide in 2001, more than a decade after Union Carbide settled its liabilities with the Indian government.
It says efforts by activists and non-governmental organisations to try to attach responsibility and liability for the site clean-up to Union Carbide and Dow Chemical are misdirected.
It adds that it has no first-hand knowledge of what chemicals, if any, may remain at the site and what impact, if any, they may be having on the areaÂ?s groundwater.
The company says that when the Indian government took control of the site in 1998, it assumed all accountability, including clean-up activities.
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