SC rules out fresh compensations for Bhopal gas tragedy victims

May 04: The victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy today received a shock after Supreme Court dismissed a bunch of petitions seeking enhanced compensation for them.

While hearing the proceedings, two judge SC bench gave the directions in response of the petitions filed by various non government organizations, who sought nearly five-fold increase in the 470 million dollar compensation. However, Justice C.K.Thakker and Justice Altamas Kabir said that if any of the victims was denied proper compensation, they can approach the Claims Tribunal for appropriate settlement of claims.

The petitioners had claimed that the $470 million compensation was inadequate and several victims did not receive the amount till date.

The Bhopal gas tragedy took place in the early hours of the fateful day of December 3, 1984. The tragedy hit the heart of the city Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh. An accident caused the release of 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide. The International Medical Commission on Bhopal was established in 1993 to respond to the disaster. More than 3,000 people died initially and at least 15,000 succumbed later from related illnesses. However, Greenpeace, a non-profit organisation cites 20,000 total deaths since the disaster because of highly toxic nature of the released gas. The tragic incident is frequently referred as the world's worst industrial disaster.