Shocking! MP Govt Says 102 Survivors Of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Died Of Covid-19, NGOs Claim 254 Succumbed To Virus

According to the govt data, 102 Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors died of Covid 19 while NGOs claimed that as many as 254 survivors of the Bhopal disaster have succumbed to the infection till now.

Victims of the Bhopal tragedy wait to be treated on December 04, 1984 at Bhopal's hospital where a poison gas leak from the Union Carbide factory killed 20000 persons and injured around 300000. The tragedy occurred when a storage tank at a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide exploded and poured cyanide gas into the air, immediately killing more than 3,500 slum dwellers. (Photo credit should read BEDI/AFP via Getty Images)

New Delhi: Today is the 36th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Over 15,000 people were killed after methyl isocyanate leaked from the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in the city of Bhopal. More than five lakh people were affected due to the toxic leak. The country has not forgotten the catastrophic intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 when the world witnessed the worst industrial disaster. While the families of the victims are still reeling from the tragedy, the Covid 19 pandemic has made their lives worse. According to a report by the PTI,  the coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of 102 survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy since its outbreak, the Madhya Pradesh government said on Wednesday. However, some NGOs claimed that as many as 254 survivors of the Bhopal disaster have died due to the infection till now. The different death figures were revealed on Wednesday, December 2. 'Till December 2, COVID-19 has claimed 518 lives in Bhopal district. Of them, 102 are Bhopal gas tragedy survivors. Out of these 102 people, 69 were above 50 years of age, while the remaining 33 were aged below 50,' Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Director Basant Kurre said as per PTI. However,  Rachna Dhingra of NGO Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA) claimed, 'As per the state's health bulletin, 518 people have died due to COVID-19 in Bhopal district so far. We visited the houses of 450 of these deceased to find out whether they were gas victims or not. Out of these 450 people, 254 were found to be the Bhopal gas tragedy survivors.' She alleged that the government does not have a full record of those Bhopal gas tragedy survivors, who died of COVID-19 infection. On the basis of the documents it was established that the death rate of gas victims due to coronavirus was 6.5 per cent, which is more than the other infected persons, she said. Dhingra claimed that the 1984 gas leak incident has claimed the lives of 20,000 people so far and leftover 5.68 lakh people affected. (With PTI inputs)