Officials of the ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers today assured leaders of organizations of survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster that the government of India will continue to pursue the Curative Petition for additional compensations coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court tomorrow. The Curative Petition filed in 2010 by the UPA government seeks 96 billion rupees as additional compensation for the disaster from Union Carbide and its owner Dow Chemical.
Bhopal disaster survivors’ organizations reached New Delhi today to submit a legal representation to the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.
Five organizations of the survivors of the Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal have condemned the Indian government for failing to prepare for the Curative Petition that began to be heard in the Supreme Court today. They demanded that the government use the three weeks till the next hearing to ensure that the actual damage caused by the disaster is factually represented before the five judge bench.
At a press conference today, leaders of five organizations of the survivors of the Union Carbide gas disaster welcomed the recent announcement on hearing of the long pending Curative Petition before the Supreme Court of India. They also expressed their apprehension that the Bhopal survivors will be denied just compensation because of the government’s downplaying of deaths and extent of injuries caused by the US corporations.
Hundreds of survivors of the Union Carbide disaster sat on a day long Dharna (sit-in) today demanding that the state government stop misleading the Supreme Court in the matter of additional compensation by downplaying the damage caused by the disaster. Led jointly by four local organizations, the survivors called upon the state government to correct the figures of deaths and extent of health damages caused by the disaster in the Curative Petition that is expected to be heard by the apex court soon.
