By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
They were young, healthy and although poor, were living happily with their families. But the Union Carbide disaster at Bhopal that struck on that fateful night 30 years ago changed their lives forever
New Delhi: Five women survivors of what came to be known as the Bhopal Gas Tragedy have embarked on a fast since Monday at Jantar Mantar. Since Tuesday, they have stopped taking even water. Almost 1,000 survivors of the disaster, mostly women, are sitting on a dharna with them. But there has been no word from any of the government officials so far.
Premlata, Vishnu Bai, Kasturi Bai, Shehazadi Bee and Kamla Bai Airhwar said they had conveyed to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers their decision to go on water-less fast on September 12, 2014 itself.
On December 2-3, 1984, the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant at Bhopal leaked methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals leaked exposing hundreds of thousands of people to the deadly gases. Officials maintain the figure at a little above 15,000 people who were killed that night or soon in the days that followed. But the government has always failed to come up with exact numbers about those affected for life that day. Several victims and relatives of still other victims got only Rs 25000 as compensation. But this amount has hardly helped anyone as many of them still need to visit hospitals for the diseases caused due to the gas leak disaster.
The survivors are now demanding additional compensation for all affected people and revision of figures of death and lingering injury caused by the disaster 30 years ago.
Five Bhopal based organizations that are jointly leading the protest called on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers to correct the errors of the previous government on the issue of compensation for the gas disaster.
Here TwoCircles.net endeavours to stitch together stories of struggle for survival and demand for justice of the five women who say they are not afraid to die for drawing government’s attention to the cause.
Vishnu Panthi (50)
The poison clouds from the Union Carbide factory hit Vishnu, then 20 years old, after midnight like thousands others. She and other members of the large joint family she lived with all had burning sensations in the eyes, they were choking, coughing, vomiting and had loose motions. She still suffers from breathlessness, burning sensation in her eyes, chest pain, body-ache and panic attacks.
Three children of her elder sister died that night. Her husband was badly affected and was diagnosed with TB after a few years. As he was unable to carry on with manual work for a living resulting in loss of income, her children were forced to drop out of school.
Adding to the tragedy for her was that one of her sons, then only three months old, was exposed to toxic gases but was not given any compensation. She has received only Rs 25, 000 as compensation. “If I die (now, during fasting) the government should be blamed. I am tired of the falsehoods of our government. The Chief Minister made a promise of Rs 5 lakh to each affected person and then betrayed,” Panthi said.
Shezadi Bee (59)
On the night of the disaster, Shezadi, who was 29-year-old then, was lucky to board a truck as she ran with her husband and four children away from the gas leak. She still remembers the two neighbours who died in the truck.
Her husband was badly affected and over the years, needs hospitalized often. Because of his illness, he was unable to do any manual work. Her eldest daughter, now 38, has been sick ever since the disaster. Her son was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1997 and is not able to do much physical work today.
As if her sufferings were not enough, the family settled in an area where the ground water was contaminated by recklessly dumped hazardous waste from the Union Carbide factory. That caused further health damage. She suffers from chest pain, impaired vision and burning sensation in the stomach. She too has received only Rs 25000 as compensation.
“Different parties have come to power in the last three decades but none has paid any attention to the survivors of Bhopal. I am not afraid of dying and hope my death will make the government take notice of the situation in Bhopal,” says 59 years old Shezadi Bee.
Premlata Chaudhary (67)
Premlata was born on August 15, 1947.
One of her son among her six children – four sons and two daughters – died after the disaster when he was eight years old during an episode of convulsions. Her mother from out of Bhopal was visiting her at the time of the disaster and she has been missing from that night.
Her husband worked as an engine driver but after being exposed to gas could not continue the job prompting her sons drop out of school as income went down. Today, the sons too are unable to work as they remain sick most of the time. The family’s desperate economic situation drove one of her daughter-in-laws to commit suicide.
“Union Carbide’s poisons have killed people in my family in direct and indirect ways. What I find most distressing is that our own government does everything to help the American corporations but does not pay any attention to our worsening condition. Through our fast we hope to make people in the government sit up and take notice,” asserted an irate Premlata.
Kasturi Bai (65)
Kasturi ran through the poison clouds along with her children on the night of the disaster to reach the hospital. At the hospital, she rescued one of her neighbours from under a pile of dead bodies but lost her daughter the same night.
Her second daughter died recently from cancer. Her husband has had several attacks of paralysis and today suffers from breathlessness, burning in the chest and stomach problems. Her husband was a building contractor and his inability to work brought down their income by 50 %. Her sons cannot go to work due to frequent illness. Two of her granddaughters have delayed milestones. She has received only Rs 25000 rupees as compensation.
“Our neighbourhood was among the worst hit by the poisonous gas from Union Carbide. Yet the government categorized 91 % of residents in our neighbourhood as only ‘temporarily’ injured. I am happy to be doing something to correct this terrible wrong,” she says.
Kamla Bai Airhwar (70)
Kamla Bai Aaihwar, her husband and five children – one daughter and four sons – were sleeping when they were stung by the leaked gas. She was pregnant with her sixth child. She ran away from gas carrying one of her sons, Pratap, who was one year and three months old and her husband ran holding three-year-old Malkhan. Remaining three children ran on their own with parents.
Husband and Malkhan were taken to the district hospital where Malkhan was taken to a ward but her husband was dumped into the mortuary thinking he was dead. He crawled out of it and came back in the morning. He stays ill ever since the disaster. He had breathlessness, cough and vomits blood often. His illness closed down the family business of repairing and selling shoes.
Kamla Bai Airhwar at Jantar Mantar.
Her sons suffer from a range of illnesses that persist till today, two of them have TB. One of her grandchild has a cleft lip, another has a speech disorder and a third grandchild has severe learning disability.
Dejected Kamla Bai laments, “Being mother of four sons is considered blessing but the disaster turned it into a cursed life. I want to tell the government that we are dying anyway – this way at least my death will make a difference.”
“I am not afraid anymore, if I was not afraid when toxic clouds hit me, if I was not afraid of the police during demonstrations I participated at Delhi, Mumbai and other places, why should I be afraid now?”
Related:
TCN Special Series: Bhopal – Three Decades of Struggle