Hundreds of survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster were present at the opening of a new Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal last month. The clinic, which replaces the old building, will be able to treat three times more people and has several new facilities such as ultrasound, microbiological investigations, medicine production, and computerized monitoring. It is sited in the middle of the communities most severely affected by the December 1984 disaster.
The explosion in Bhopal is still the worst chemical pesticide-related disaster of our time, and has caused the deaths of over 20,000 to date. The Clinic provides free treatments to gas survivors and also treats people affected by drinking water contaminated by the polluted site. Its work is vital as the gas-affected continue to die at the rate of one each day. Union Carbide and its new owner Dow Chemical have left the site of the plant uncleaned despite a survey by Greenpeace showing that soil and water in and around it are contaminated by organochlorines and heavy metals. A February 2002 study found mercury, lead and organochlorines in the breast milk of women living near the plant. The children of gas-affected women are subject to a frightening array of debilitating illnesses, including retardation, gruesome birth defects, and reproductive disorders.
The Clinic continues to offer free medical care through modern medicine, ayurveda and yoga to over 14,000 survivors and those affected by ground water contamination. Its community health workers have achieved remarkable results in controlling tuberculosis and other diseases and the documentation unit’s surveys have helped survivors win their legal rights in the Supreme Court of India. The Clinic’s work has been published in international medical journals and has earned them two international awards.
Send donations to PAN UK/Bhopal Account, c/o Pesticide Action Network UK, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4JX, FREEPHONE Donation Line: 0800 316 5577, Tel: +44 20 7065 0909, www.bhopal.org
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 68, June 2005, page 23]