'Open Wounds' - Bhopal's Second Disaster - Madhya Pradesh - India (82 images)

Bhopal is not yet at peace.

Twenty-five years after Union Carbide's infamous industrial disaster, many families are still living the nightmare that began on December the 3rd, 1984. Half a million people were exposed to the toxic gas released from the plant while all the safety systems failed to work due to poor maintenance.

Thousands died in the wake of the poisonous cloud.

Its deadly legacy is now not only affecting those who survived this dramatic...
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Bhopal is not yet at peace.

Twenty-five years after Union Carbide's infamous industrial disaster, many families are still living the nightmare that began on December the 3rd, 1984. Half a million people were exposed to the toxic gas released from the plant while all the safety systems failed to work due to poor maintenance.

Thousands died in the wake of the poisonous cloud.

Its deadly legacy is now not only affecting those who survived this dramatic event, but also their children, many of whom are suffering from severe, degrading neurological and physical disorders caused by the large-scale human and environmental contamination, which continues unabated today.

In the consciousness of people the world over, Bhopal is associated with the haunting images of that night and the failures of industrialization in the developing world. Left buried in various spots near the industrial site for the past 25 years, the toxic waste of Union Carbide (now owned by Dow Chemical, the world's second largest chemicals manufacturer) keeps penetrating the city's underground water reservoirs every time the rain seeps through the tainted ground.

An indelible curse, an ignoble crime, a self-perpetrating injustice against defenceless families who have been stripped of their right to dignity and happiness, whose need for water in order to survive has relentlessly poisoned their bodies, their minds, their existence.

As many as 30.000 people are in danger from this contamination or have to rely on expensive, unaffordable alternatives.

On 28 March 2008, the Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution confirming that governments have obligations to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights law.

In the heart of the city, the Bhopal Medial Appeal (a UK-based NGO) was created after the tragedy in order to help the victims and to continue fighting for justice in Bhopal.
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