Survivors protest against government-organised run
BHOPAL: A half-marathon organised by the district administration coinciding with the 33rd anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy on Sunday drew the ire of the survivors of one of the worst industrial disasters.
Toxic gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant here on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, and claimed several lives. Hundreds of supporters holding posters and placards held protest against ‘Run Bhopal Run,’ an annual event.
“When half the city is mourning the deaths of more than 3,000 people in the gas tragedy, how can another half celebrate through an annual half marathon —‘Run Bhopal Run.’ Have they forgotten the pain and trauma, which is still fresh in our mind even after 33 years,” read a protest banner.
Protesters lay down on the road wearing shrouds, forcing administration to change the route of the marathon.
Rachna Dhingra, a social activist working with survivors, said, “Officials of the district administration, mayor and members of parliament participated in the half marathon ignoring pain and agony thousands of Bhopal gas tragedy victims had undergone.”
However, one of the participants in the marathon Aruneshwar Singh Deo said the run was organised to motivate people for organ donation and was not a celebratory event. “We paid homage to the victims too,” he said.
The survivors also organised a protest rally against what they said the apathy of the government and burnt an effigy of Dow Chemicals, which owns Union Carbide Corporation (UCC).