Bhopal gas leak survivors still being poisoned

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The waste left behind at the Union Carbide factory that was closed 25 years ago after a fatal gas leak is continuing to poison people around the plant, says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). "Latest tests show that groundwater in areas even three km from the factory contains almost 40 times more pesticides than Indian standards," CSE Director Sunita Narain said in Bhopal on Tuesday, a day before the 25th anniversary of the gas leak that killed 3,500 people at once and maimed thousands more.

Ghosts of Bhopal gas tragedy continue to haunt

The pollution monitoring lab of the Delhi-based think tank, CSE, has tested water and soil samples from in and around the closed factory and found high concentrations of pesticides and heavy metals inside the factory as well as in the groundwater outside.

Text: IANS

Image: In this Nov. 21, 2009 photograph, a security personnel cycles past Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. (Image copyright AP. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.)