The survivors exposed to the poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant here in 1984 observed the 26th anniversary of the gas disaster by joining a protest march and burning effigies of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical company in the state capital on Friday.
From the government side, the traditional all-religion prayer meeting was held at Barkatullah Bhavan in the old Bhopal area on Friday to pay homage to the gas victims. chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who attended this meeting, joined others in observing a two minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed souls and said that the resolve to bring joy and happiness to the surviving gas affected families should be the real tribute to the gas victims. State home minister Umashankar Gupta, chairman of Madhya Pradesh tourism development corporation Dhurv Narayan Singh, local MLA Arif Aqueel, chief secretary Avani Vaish, secretary gas relief and rehabilitation S.R. Mohanty, and Bhopal divisional commissioner Manoj Shrivastava were present at the all-religion prayer meeting. The Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) organised a protest rally at Yaadgar-e-shahjahani Park in the afternoon.
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Parliament pays tribute to victims
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
Dec. 3: Parliament on Friday remembered the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy on its 26th anniversary with vice-president Hamid Ansari saying the human tragedy of unparalleled magnitude had been compounded by “indifferent attitude” of the authorities. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha observed silence after paying tributes to thousands people who died in the tragedy that took place on December 2, 1984.