Tormented survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy and their families staged a protest burned effigies of the Union Carbide factory to mark 25th anniversary of world's most deadly industrial disaster on Thursday (December 03, 2009).
When the factory was set up it was seen as a symbol of the new emerging India -- a factory that would not only generate thousands of jobs, but also manufacture cheap pesticides for millions of farmers.
But the Union Carbide plant in the central city of Bhopal left a more potent legacy when it accidentally released toxic gases into the air, killing thousands of people and causing many more to suffer in the world's most deadly industrial disaster.
In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by the wind to the surrounding slums.
The government says around 3,500 died because of the disaster. Activists however calculate that 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.
Activists and health workers say a further 100,000 people who were exposed to the gas continue to suffer today.
Holding placards, banners, and raising slogans against the officials of the Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals, the protestors asserted that they would continue to fight against the government until they get justice.
Activists blamed the government of not keeping its word on setting up an empowered commission for long-term rehabilitation for Bhopal gas tragedy survivors.
"About 18 months back the Prime Minister (Dr Manmohan Singh) promised to set up an empowered commission in Bhopal for long-term rehabilitation for Bhopal gas tragedy survivors and their families. However, he did not keep his promise. But we hope that the recent report of the Centre for Science and Environment and the fact that at least 18,000 people are still drinking poisoned water will move the Prime Minister to set up the commission," said Satinath Sadangi, an activist of Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
A report by the independent Center for Science and Environment (CSE), which in October tested the toxicity levels of ground water and soil samples in and outside the plant, suggested that the entire site was highly contaminated.
A quarter of a century on, the derelict factory stands abandoned, but behind its locked iron gates lies what environmentalists say is "a disaster within a disaster" -- a highly polluted site which, was slowly poisoning the drinking water for thousands of residents.
Sicknesses range from cancer, blindness, respiratory difficulties, immune and neurological disorders, female reproductive disorders as well as birth defects among children born to affected women. However, activists and lawyers representing the affected populations from the nearby slums say the tragedy of this disaster is that it continues unabated.
Bhopal has long cast a shadow over India and how it handles the challenges of a 1.1 billion, largely poor population, improve health and safety regulations, and a fast-growing economy.
Around 340 metric tonnes of chemical waste are stored in a warehouse inside the plant and needs to be disposed of. Dow Chemical, which now owns Union Carbide, denies any responsibility saying it bought the company a decade after Union Carbide had settled its liabilities to the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million for the victims.
Authorities also have for years refuted claims that the water is contaminated, saying that various studies commissioned by the government have found no evidence of pollution.
However, the CSE report contradicts the government's findings, saying samples taken from around the factory site were found to contain chlorinated benzene compounds and organochlorine pesticides 561 times the national standard.
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