Bhopal: A Continuing Tragedy >> What Happened >> Adequate Compensation?

Adequate Compensation?

         Because the Red Cross and the government offered help to Bhopal at the time of the tragedy, most people believe that the accident has been taken care of. This, however, is not true. Thousands of people have suffered and even died in more recent years, because they are still affected by the toxins which were spread through the city over twenty years before. Suffering through disease and disorder, it is imperative to realize the people of Bhopal, India, still need the help of the rest of the world to survive.

         In 1989, Union Carbide decided to pay out a total of about 470 million dollars in compensation for the accident. However, so many people were affected by the gasses that each person only received about $400 to $500. This money paid for about five years worth of medical expenses for those who received it. It has been many years since that money ran out for victims of the tragedy, and many do not realize that the effects of terrible accident continue even to this day. The $400 was all they received to make up for the whole incident, for their whole lives, even though this gas tragedy ruined lives for many.

As many of the people in Bhopal believe that the survivors didn't receive enough, and for these reasons, Bhopal has a dynamic activist group who fight for the rights of the Bhopali people. They address issues such as more compensation for the citizens affected by the gas tragedy, the purification of water, and medical rights.

"Health is… a blessing that money cannot buy."

-Izaak Walton