Gas victims to send one lakh petitions to Supreme Court

Bhopal, May 5 (UNI) One lakh personal petitions will be sent to the Supreme Court seeking a review of its order dismissing a petition for more compensation to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy in December 1984, which claimed several thousand lives.

A sit-in was today staged in the state capital by gas victims, who described the demands for enhanced compensation as appropriate.

Mr Abdul Jabbar, convenor of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS), a voluntary organisation, led the demonstration.

Mr Jabbar said gas victims would stage a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court after summer vacation. A memorandum would be sent to the President and the Chief Justice of India, while a petition would be submitted in Parliament in this regard.

The Apex Court had quashed a petition by the BGPMUS seeking four-time compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas victims.

The petitioner had told the court that the 1989 settlement -- between Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and the Centre -- put the number of affected in the tragedy at 1.02 lakh and deceased as over 3,000 and a total amount of 470 million dollars was provided as compensation.

However, the petition challenged the number of gas victims killed and affected during the tragedy and sought more compensation claiming that at number of people killed and affected in the incident were higher.

UNI