25th anniversary

(EPA/HARISH TYAGI)

Local children play near the boundary wall of the Union Carbide plant in Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, 28 November 2009. On 03 December 1984, some 3,800 people died instantly, many of them in their sleep, when around 40 tons of highly poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked out of a pesticide-producing unit at the Union Carbide plant. According to official data, the gas disaster killed 15,274 people although assessments by groups such as Greenpeace say 25,000 died. The state government had announced in early November 2009 it would open the Union Carbide plant for a week to mark the 25th anniversary with a view to dispel ‘misconceptions’ that chemical waste in the factory were still polluting the city. Reports on 29 November 2009 say, authorities of Bhopal have cancelled re-opening the factory after several protests from victim rights groups and environmental activists, few days before the anniversary.