25 yrs on,Bhopal survivor narrates horror tale

Her parents were told to pack up and leave the colony immediately.

She thought it was an LPG cylinder leak until the horror unfolded in front of her in the next 72 hours.

Twenty five years have passed since the toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked out that December night in Bhopal leaving at least 10,000 dead in 72 hours.

But Savita,who now lives in Vadodara,still suffers from respiratory trouble.

She says it takes her more time to climb up a flight of stairs.

“Our colony was in Ward number 32,which was immediately evacuated and we were asked to move towards the safer areas on the outskirts of the city,” said More,who is married to a city-based businessman and resides in the Raopura locality.

But people fleeing the city had told them there was no way out as the gas was spreading rapidly,she added.

“My maternal uncle stayed a bit far from the town. One of his sons was a science graduate. I remember him using wet curtains and bedsheets to contain the flow of gas,” said More.

Though no one in her family was directly affected by the lethal gas,she says her younger sister,who was born in 1985,and she herself,have respiratory problems.

“I went to at least 12 doctors in Bhopal and Vadodara. Finally,Dr C L Nagpal,an acupuncture specialist in Jaipur,said that there is a small fissure in my nasal canal,which is causing the problem. Most of the doctors I had gone to said that I was unwell because of the gas exposure,” added More.

She is critical of the recent move by the Madhya Pradesh government to open up the Union Carbide factory premises to the public and set up a Rs 116-crore memorial,similar to the one at Hiroshima.

“Why can’t they speed up the process of rehabilitation? Why can’t they use the money to impose stricter regulations in the factories?” she said.

Call to educate masses about disaster management
Activists from the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti,Sahiyar,Manthan and other human rights and environmental organisations gathered today in remembrance of the victims of the December 3 Bhopal gas tragedy.

In view of the rapid industrialisation of Gujarat,they asked the government to strengthen the chemical emergency set-up and educate the masses about disaster management.

A documentary film titled “No More Bhopal” was also screened on the occasion.