BHOPAL: When Mahesh Pal moved to the Nishatpura area in Bhopal in 2000, the gas tragedy that claimed over 5,000 lives in the neighbourhood didn't figure high on his list of concerns. After all, a decade-and-a-half had passed since the world's worst industrial disaster, the infamous plant was long shut, and even the scarred city was beginning to heal. Pal saw that housing prices were cheaper than what they were elsewhere in the Madhya Pradesh capital, and didn't think twice before moving with his family of seven.
He was wrong. Within a year, he and his father developed a skin ailment, followed by joint pains. The reason, said experts, was the local groundwater contaminated by the industrial waste that had been dumped into the soil.
"Our locality is just 1km from the UCIL (Union Carbide India Limited) factory. My family is now battling skin, liver and other diseases due to contaminated water. We moved pillar to post but nothing happened for years," said Pal, 42.
This Wednesday, though, a crinkled smile replaced the severe furrows on Pal's face as a convoy of 40 trucks drove into the neighbourhood, ready to pick up the 337 metric tonnes of toxic waste left over from that fateful 1984 accident. The convoy - almost a kilometre long - pulled into the Pithampur industrial area, roughly 200km away, in the early hours of Thursday. "We are very happy as at least 40 years after the tragedy, the state government has started acting to clear the waste. It increases our hope of getting clean water one day," said Pal.
Since December 3, 1984, when tonnes of lethal methyl isocyanate gas sheathed Bhopal in a dome of death and poisoned thousands of people, the city has been divided into two kinds of victims - those who were exposed to the toxic fumes; and those whose exposure to the local environment, contaminated due to the abandoned industrial waste that lay unattended for decades - caught in a legal tangle.
Denne historien er fra January 04, 2025-utgaven av Hindustan Times Rajasthan.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 04, 2025-utgaven av Hindustan Times Rajasthan.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Assembly Session to Begin from Jan 31
The third session of the 16th Rajasthan legislative assembly will commence on January 31, assembly speaker Vasudev Devnani said on Wednesday after reviewing the preparations for the session.
Forest dept to track leopard population amid rise in man-animal conflict: Official
Amid the rise number of leopards and human-wildlife conflict in Rajasthan, state forest minister Sanjay Sharma on Wednesday directed officials concerned to keep a track of the population of leopards, excluding those in Tiger Reserves, in protected areas using the camera trap method, officials familiar with the matter said.
Expert: Jaisalmer May Have Links To Tethys Sea
Eruption of water at a borewell drilling site in Mohangarh region in Jaisalmer has led to claims of the city's proximity to the Tethys Sea, an ocean that existed about 250 million years ago.
Expert: Jaisalmer May Have Links to Tethys Sea
Days after the leakage of gas and water during a tubewell drilling operation in the desert region of Jaisalmer, an ONGC team in its report has advised against attempting to remove the trapped truck and machinery, citing such action could trigger another round of water and gas leakage.
Govt Sanctions Women Police Battalion In Three Districts
The state government on Wednesday gave financial and administrative sanction for the constitution of women police battalion in Sikar, Alwar and Barmer district of Rajasthan, an official familiar with the matter said.
Govt Merges 190 Schools Over Zero Enrollment and Poor Infra
The government has merged at least 190 primary and upper primary schools across the state that have been running with zero enrollment and poor infrastructures, officials familiar with the matter said.
Asaram moves HC to suspend life sentence
Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, convicted of sexually assaulting a minor, on Wednesday moved the Rajasthan high court seeking suspension of the life sentence awarded to him by the special court in Jodhpur.
Need talks on ancient languages, says official
More discussions on Sanskrit and other ancient Indian languages are important to develop the value system of Indian society, said Neeraj K Pawan, secretary of sports department.
Elgar Parishad Case: Bail to Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale, both arrested in 2018 in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
Army divers retrieve body of one miner from flooded 300-foot-deep coal mine in Assam
Indian army divers retrieved the body of one of at least nine miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine in India's northeastern Assam state, officials said Wednesday.
