DECEMBER 3, 1984

On December 3rd 1984, the world saw its worst ever industrial disaster, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. 20000 were killed, 170000 severely affected.
I wasn't around then on this planet, but my parents and relatives, who were there that fateful night, have narrated anecdotes of the tragedy. Dad learnt from his friend who was a doctor, that "Bodies were being thrown around in the morgues. The then-existing mortuaries didn't suffice." The gas leak started on December 2nd at 11:30 pm, and some people died in their sleep as a result. The news of the gas leak spread like wildfire, and some people started running out of their homes, exposing themselves to the gas. However, when the news came around to our place, my parents couldn't run, owing to my grandmother's health. The gas, however, did not leak till our place, which is about 20 kms from the factory. People say that some person, realizing that the gas had leaked from the tanks, went and closed the valve. He gave up his own life, but if this is true, then bless that person, who saved a city from extinction. I also know of friends who had lost an elder sibling to the gas tragedy.
The after effects have been enormous, with many people maimed in one form or the other. However, there has been no attempt to get the perpetrators to book. Warren Anderson is still living free at Long Island, there are still petty fights over paltry compensations and the attempts to heal the scars from that fateful night have been pathetic, at best. The facilities for ensuring relief to the people who have been affected in the long term by the tragedy are sub-standard, and need to be improved. We only hope that many more people like Rashida Bi and Champa Devi Shukla stand up for ensuring justice to Bhopal.
Here is hoping that the souls of the victims of MIC are liberated and justice is delivered to the city of Bhopal, which, unfortunately, is famous/infamous for all the wrong reasons.