Every party to blame
THE victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy took out an :nti-election campaign' rally in protest against political parties that have ignored the victims in their manifestos. The rally was organised by the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Uclyog Sangathan. More than 27,000 people died in 1984 due to lack of medical treatment after mythylisocyanate leaked from a factory belonging to the Union Carbide. Over two lakh people are still suffering from chronic diseases.
Sangathan convenor, Abdul Jabbar, said that the incidence of tuberculosis in Bhopal is twice that of the national average. There is a shortage of medicines in government hospitals and most of the medical equipment is out of order, he said. Moreover, the industrial estate established for the victims' economic rehabilitation is yet to start functioning. Only 205 gas victims have got jobs in the railway coach repair factory.