Bhopal, Dec 24 (IANS) Twentysix years after the world’s worst industrial disaster — Bhopal gas tragedy, the Madhya Pradesh government has proposed a cell to study hereditary disability caused by Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas among the children of gas victims.
The MIC leakage from Bhopal’s Union Carbide factory in 1984 killed over 3,000 people instantly and affected over a lakh people. The total number of deaths has by now reached over 25,000 and the number of affected over five lakh.
In several studies by private groups it has been shown that the hereditary impact of the leak still disables children born to gas victims.
The proposed cell will study whether the disabilities among the children by birth are because of the effects of MIC gas or due to some other reasons.
The state government sent the proposal last week to the centre to establish the cell. The proposal was made on the guidelines suggested by officials of the Indian Council of Medial Research (ICMR).
‘We have sent a proposal to the central government to form a separate cell to study the issue,’ K.K. Dubay, deputy secretary of Bhopal gas tragedy relief and rehabilitation department, said Friday.
It is expected that Rs.6 lakh would be spent on the establishment of the cell and every year it would cost Rs.50 lakh to study the hereditary effects of MIC on gas victims.
