GREATER KASHMIR ONLINE
New Delhi, Apr 6:
More than two decades after the deadly chemical leak from the Union Carbide plant, people in parts of Bhopal still drink poisoned water, human rights group Amnesty International reminded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, asking him to lend ear to an affected group that marched to Delhi seeking justice.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan expressed deep concern that the Government has failed to ensure regular and sufficient piped drinking water to all affected communities in Bhopal in compliance with a 2004 Supreme Court order.
The London-based organisation also sought the immediate cleanup of the factory site in order to contain further damage to the ground water and the environment, besides an impartial probe into the use of force by police on victims demonstrating peacefully outside the union Chemicals and Fertilisers ministry last week.
She recalled that more than 7,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands others affected within days of the disaster in 1984. At least 15,000 more people have died of various related medical complications ever since.
“To date, no one has been held to account for the gas leak and its disastrous consequences that continue to affect people and the environment. The contaminated plant site has not yet been cleaned up. As a result, toxic wastes continue to pollute the environment and contaminate water that the surrounding communities rely on.”
Thirty-nine victims of the gas tragedy who trekked from Bhopal to Delhi are on dharna here to press for a clutch of demands, including safe drinking water in the affected area. UNI

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