Bhopal: Five women who survived 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy are to sit on an indefinite fast from today at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, seeking increased compensation and revision of toll figures.
These five women survivors' represent different organizations associated with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. Their main demands are increased compensation besides correction in figures of death and extent of injury. Depriving themselves of water or food, these women will demand additional compensation for all survivors of the disaster.
The president of a trade union of women survivors, Rashida Bee, told The Economic Times that the ex-gratia compensation of Rs 1 lakh was given to only 33,672 survivors among the 5,69,081 people exposed to Union Carbide's toxic gas.
"There is no scientific or legal basis to deny additional compensation to 93 per cent of the victims. Our protest at Jantar Mantar is for additional compensation of Rs one lakh for all gas victims," she told the newspaper.
"The figures of death and extent of injury caused by Union Carbide in the curative petition are far lower than the findings of the Indian Council of Medical Research and other scientific agencies," she added.
The Madhya Pradesh Government confirmed 3,787 deaths on the night of December 2-3, 1984 when the disaster struck. However, unofficial estimates put the death toll above 10,000, the organisation said.
More than a half-million people were injured, with many dying from illnesses including lung cancer, kidney failure and liver disease.
In 1989, Union Carbide paid USD 470 million to the Indian Government to settle litigation stemming from the disaster.
