Nearly 25 years after the Bhopal Gas tragedy, Madhya Pradesh is asking the Centre to declare 20 wards as “gas affected” and hence liable for compensation. The last compensation was paid in 1999 from the 470 million dollars that Union Carbide paid.

In addition to this, at the Group of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, the state asked the Centre for Rs 982 crore to rehabilitate gas victims. They have also asked for Rs 40 crore to convert the 67 square-acre factory site into a memorial park with a ‘Ground Zero’ that would have a statue of a “wailing lady”.

“The Centre passed the National Disaster Act in 1984 and took up the guardianship of the Bhopal gas victims. Since 1999, they have not paid a penny to the state,” Babu Lal Gaur, minister in-charge of the Bhopal Gas Relief Department told The Indian Express.

Of the total 56 wards in the city, 36 were considered to be gas affected. People from the remaining 20 had to prove that they suffered due to the gas leak to be eligible for relief. Only 15,000 people in these 20 wards got compensation. “Just because people stay on the other side of the road does not mean that they do not qualify for compensation,” said Gaur.

Union Carbide had paid 470 million dollars to the Indian government in 1989 in a settlement reached after a protracted legal battle. On an average, the victims got Rs 25,000 in case of illness and the relatives of those who died got Rs 100,000.

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