Bhopal, November 22: Stating that the Bhopal gas tragedy victims have not been paid adequate compensation even after 25 years of the world’s worst industrial disaster, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udhyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) on Sunday asked the Centre to release more funds.
“The Centre should step in and make available funds to adequately compensate the Bhopal gas tragedy victims,” BGPMUS convener Abdul Jabbar told reporters here.
He said only a flat amount of Rs 25,000 each was paid as compensation to the affected people which compared poorly with compensation amount given in other tragedies.
He pointed out that the victims of Uphar Cinema (Delhi) were given Rs 18 lakh each by way of compensation while the victims of World Trade Organisation (WTO) in US received Rs 24 crore each. In comparison to the Uphar and WTO, the Bhopal gas victims have not received adequate compensation, he said.
According to an agreement of February 15, 1989 facilitated by the Supreme Court, Union Carbide Corporation, US provided a compensation of USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore) meant for 1,02,000 affected people and 3000 people who lost their lives in the toxic gas release from the Union Carbide Factory in the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
Then, the Supreme Court, he reminded, asked the Centre to provide additional funds to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, if their number swelled which indeed went up later.
He said that this fund of Rs 715 crore was meagre given that the number of people affected by the tragedy went up to 5,74,000, while the number of people died as a fallout of gas leak shot up to 15,274 subsequently.
–PTI