Memorial of 1984 gas tragedy to come up in Bhopal

BHOPAL: Nearly thirty-two years after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in which thousands of people were killed, Madhya Pradesh government today announced that it would build a memorial of one of the world's worst industrial disaster.

It would come up on the premises of the defunct Union Carbide factory here from where toxic gas spewed out on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, wreaking havoc.

"Like Hiroshima Memorial, a memorial of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy will be built," Minister of State for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Vishvas Sarang said here after inspecting the defunct factory.

The concept and the plan of the memorial are ready and the work would start in two to three months, he said.

Sarang said 10 tonnes of toxic waste lying in the factory has been disposed of by Ramki Private Limited, Pithampur. "We will request the Central Pollution Control Board to incinerate the remaining waste lying in the factory," he said.

The state government was working hard to ensure that the victims of the gas tragedy got justice, he said.

NGO Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udhyog Sangathan (BGPMUS), which works for the survivors of the tragedy, thanked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Sarang for announcement of the memorial.

BGPMUS leader Abdul Jabbar said it had been demanding memorial of the tragedy for the last two decades.

The state government should also request the Centre to strongly pursue the curative petition filed in the Supreme Court seeking compensation and medical facilities for the tragedy survivors, he demanded.