30 years of Bhopal gas tragedy: Gas Devi and Zahar Lal still question us, seek justice Manoj Sharma IBN7 | December 2, 2014 13:31 PM The gory night of December 2-3, 1984 still haunt the memories of a poor inhabitant of Oriya Basti, a slum area unfortunate to have been very close to infamous Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. Although 30 years have passed but it seems as if it was just yesterday that the mayhem broke, when she gasped for oxygen, coughed incessantly, her eyes burning as if she had been attacked with pepper spray. Her old shriveled skin stretches when she relives the trauma of that night as she and her spouse joined thousands of other people trying to escape the deadly Methyl Iso-Cyanate (MIC) leaking from the Union Carbide plant. Even as the entire city was trying to escape, several of them were unlucky and were swallowed by the jaws of death. There are numerous tales of unfathomable sufferings. Paan Bai cites the case of her newborn brought to life before time because of what happened on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984. The baby was named Zahar Lal by hospital staff to keep records of new-born babies. Amidst heaps of dead bodies in the hospital, the baby was unaware that his name is also the tale of that black night. Similarly resounding is the name of another baby girl, born to Nirmati Devi. The baby was named Gas Devi (Goddess of Gas) probably because she survived the fatal and chaotic night of December 2, 1984, while death danced on Bhopals streets. What is ironical is that both Paan Bai and Nirmati share one more thing in common. They do not share and celebrate the birthdays and names of their son and daughter respectively. Zahar Lal and Gas Devi turn 30 this year which also marks the 30th anniversary of the worlds worst industrial disaster. Did anything change for them during a long span of 30 years?
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:48:10 +0000
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