Bhopal disaster survivors block trains, seek redress
Source: Agencies |
December 4, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THOUSANDS of survivors of the world's worst industrial accident blocked trains through a central Indian city yesterday to demand more compensation.
The protests were on the 27th anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, where a Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked lethal gas that killed an estimated 15,000 people and maimed tens of thousands more.
Activist Rachna Dhingra said that police charged the protesters with sticks yesterday in trying to stop them from occupying Bhopal's five train lines, and that three people were hospitalized with injuries. The protesters, most of them women sitting on the tracks, threw stones at the police.
Vowing to block trains indefinitely, the five Bhopal victims' rights groups that organized the protest demanded Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, pay US$8.1 billion in compensation for more than 500,000 people exposed to the leak.
The protesters -- shouting slogans including "We want compensation" - said India's government accepted far too little in a 1985 settlement for US$470 million, after initially asking for US$3.3 billion.
The Indian government is seeking an additional US$1.7 billion for the victims from Dow, and activists accuse the US company of not cleaning up oil and groundwater contamination in Bhopal.
Meanwhile, Dow has maintained that the issue was resolved by the US$470 million settlement.
"When the moment came to ask for rights for compensation, why this betrayal? The government has undermined the victims," Dhingra said, calling the official death toll of 5,290 laughable.
The protests were on the 27th anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, where a Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked lethal gas that killed an estimated 15,000 people and maimed tens of thousands more.
Activist Rachna Dhingra said that police charged the protesters with sticks yesterday in trying to stop them from occupying Bhopal's five train lines, and that three people were hospitalized with injuries. The protesters, most of them women sitting on the tracks, threw stones at the police.
Vowing to block trains indefinitely, the five Bhopal victims' rights groups that organized the protest demanded Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, pay US$8.1 billion in compensation for more than 500,000 people exposed to the leak.
The protesters -- shouting slogans including "We want compensation" - said India's government accepted far too little in a 1985 settlement for US$470 million, after initially asking for US$3.3 billion.
The Indian government is seeking an additional US$1.7 billion for the victims from Dow, and activists accuse the US company of not cleaning up oil and groundwater contamination in Bhopal.
Meanwhile, Dow has maintained that the issue was resolved by the US$470 million settlement.
"When the moment came to ask for rights for compensation, why this betrayal? The government has undermined the victims," Dhingra said, calling the official death toll of 5,290 laughable.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
