By TCN News,
Bhopal: Five organizations working for the rights of the survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster today demanded the Chief Minister’s intervention to ensure adequate compensation for all victims of Union Carbide.
The organizations said that in view of the upcoming hearing of the Curative petitions in the Supreme Court on September 2, the Chief Minister must direct officials to revise the figures of disaster related injury and death in the State government’s petition. The organizations also demanded that the Chief Minister must ensure that the Central Government pays additional compensation of Rs. Two Lakhs to each gas victim. The organizations have sent a letter today to the Chief Minister on this matter affecting over half million victims.
Balkrishna Namdeo of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha said that following the June 2010 directions of the Group of Ministers on Bhopal, less than 50 thousand victims of the disaster have been paid additional compensation. He said that denial of additional compensation to about 526 thousand claimants was based on the government’s arbitrary stance that they suffered only temporary injury due to the gas leak in 1984.
“In his letter of December 8, 2011 to the then Prime Minister, the Chief Minister had stated that a large number of gas victims had been wrongfully denied additional compensation by the Central government” said Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action. “Five days earlier, on the 27th Anniversary of the disaster 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.” he said.
Nawab Khan of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha said that the survivors of the gas disaster were looking forward to the hearing of the Curative petition that has been pending for the last three years. “Unless correct figures of injury and death caused by the disaster are presented by the state and central governments, the judges will not be able to do justice as per the expectations of the Bhopal survivors.” he said.
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Rashida Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh pointed out that the state government has sought compensation for only 5295 deaths in the Curative Petition whereas in a criminal matter before the Supreme Court the state government had presented a figure of 15342 deaths attributable to the gas disaster. “Both state and central government have arbitrarily assumed over 90 % of the survivors to be temporarily injured by the gas exposure whereas Union Carbide’s own document states that damage due to methyl isocyanate exposure is permanent.” she said.
“ The Chief Minister must direct officials to revise figures of injury and death based on hospital records and research data so that the Curative petition is amended well before September 2.” said Safreen Khan of Children against Dow/Carbide. “The CM’s intervention can avert denial of justice to over half million people who have been waiting for it for nearly three decades” she said.