A study published in July 2023, done after examining 92,320 victims, revealed that men above the age of 21 were more impacted than others.

40 Years of Bhopal Gas Tragedy; Governor Mangubhai Patel to attend prayer meeting

AMN / WEB DESK

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, one of the world’s deadliest industrial accidents. Various programs including an all-religion prayer meeting will be organised on this occasion. This year marks 40 years since the catastrophic Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

The disaster occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, when a leakage of a highly poisonous gas, methyl isocyanate, also known as MIC, took place at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The factory manufactured pesticide Sevin using the poisonous gas. On December 2, a safety valve failure in a storage tank released a massive quantity of the gas into the air.

The leak was triggered by a combination of poor maintenance, equipment failure, and safety violations at the understaffed plant. Water leaked into the gas storage tank, causing a runaway chemical reaction that led to the release of the gas into the atmosphere.

Governor Mangubhai Patel will also attend the prayer meeting. Tributes will be paid to the gas victims who died in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in the program. At the same time, the Ayushman Bharat scheme of the Central Government has worked to heal their wounds.

On the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ayushman cards are being made for Bhopal gas victims and their children. Till last month, Ayushman cards of more than 20 thousand gas victims have been made.

As a result, gas victims are getting free treatment in 6 hospitals and 9 dispensaries operated under the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and rehabilitation Department as well as in all the contracted hospitals of the state. With the receipt of Ayushman card, treatment has also become easier for gas victims Chand Bhai and Mohammad Sabir.

On the other hand, around 4 thousand 406 gas affected widows receiving social security pension from the state government are being given an additional pension of one thousand rupees per month by Bhopal Gas Relief Department in addition to the pension amount.