30 years after the Bhopal gas leak, children born with deformities are latest victims
Many women living near the Union Carbide plant have given birth to babies with deformities
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 03 December, 2014, 10:28pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 03 December, 2014, 10:28pm
Agence France-Presse in Bhopal
Survivors and relatives of the Bhopal gas accident attend a torchlight rally on the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, which killed 3,500 in the immediate aftermath. Photo: EPA
Second-generation victim of the leak is fed. Photo: AP
A scene from 1984. Photo: AP
When Champa Devi Shukla's granddaughter was born with facial deformities in the Indian city of Bhopal, she was not left short of advice.
"Many people said you should kill her. They said she is of no use, you should stuff tobacco in her mouth" to suffocate her, said Devi Shukla.
"But I thought, I'm not going to let her die. I've already lost three sons to this tragedy so I'm not going to lose someone else."
When a cloud of highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas blew across Bhopal on the night of December 2, 1984, about 3,500 people were killed in the immediate aftermath and up to 25,000 are estimated to have died in the long run. The tragedy did not end there for locals living around the Union Carbide chemical plant at the centre of the disaster, with many later giving birth to children with abnormalities.
While the exact numbers are impossible to pin down, the streets near the now abandoned factory are full of families whose children born post-1984 have either died prematurely or have major health problems.
But the government has not confirmed a link, which would have major implications in terms of compensation so far limited to people who were alive at the time of what is known as the world's deadliest industrial disaster.
Devi Shukla lost her husband and three sons on the night. One of her daughters, Vidya, was also left partially paralysed after inhaling fumes, although her condition improved after extensive physiotherapy.
The family was overjoyed when Vidya fell pregnant, but more pain was to come. Her first child, a son called Sushil, was stunted and is now less than 1.2 metres at the age of 18.
A second son, Sanjay, died after five months. And then Vidya gave birth to a daughter, Sapna.
"She was born with a cleft lip and palate. She has had three lots of operations so far" with one still to go to reconstruct her nose, Devi Shukla said.
Sapna, now a happy 13-year-old, says she wants to become a doctor when she is older.
Her own family's experience having convinced her of the link, Devi Shukla helped set up a clinic for children of survivors who have health problems.
The Chingari Trust has 705 pupils, many with conditions such as autism or deafness. The centre provides physical and speech therapy along with schooling and sports. Rasheda Bee, a co-trustee, says she believes most of the illnesses stem from "drinking poisonous water".
Her determination to help began after she saw her sister and then her three nieces die of respiratory illnesses.
Although she is not a doctor, she was involved in tests on the breast milk of 20 mothers.
Half were from neighbourhoods close to the factory and the others were form the other side of the town.
"The figures for one half were normal but nine out of the 10 living near the plant had high levels of mercury in their milk," she said. Mercury stunts the development of foetuses.
The head of Amnesty International, which is campaigning for more compensation for victims, says there is clear evidence of poisoning.
"We are now dealing with inter-generational health problems which are being passed on from the parents to the next generation," Salil Shetty said while attending commemorations marking the 30th anniversary of the disaster.
