Bhopal survivors to get more compensation

BHOPAL - The much-awaited distribution of increased compensation to survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy will begin from Dec 15, a minister said Sunday.

Bhopal gas tragedy relief and rehabilitation minister Babulal Gaur said the increased compensation of Rs.750 crore would be distributed through claim courts by March 31, 2011.

He added that death cases would be taken up first, and families can claim a maximum of Rs.10 lakh. The compensation already paid will be deducted and money will be transferred to their accounts.

There are over 5,000 such cases, Gaur said.

Permanent and partial disability cases would be taken up next and the entire process will be supervised by in-charge registrar of the Gas Welfare Commissioner Office Bharat Bhushan Shrivastava.

Tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) spewed out of the now shut Union Carbide pesticide plant here on Dec 2-3, 1984, killing over 3,000 people instantly.

In the years that followed, people exposed to the gas kept dying. The toll is believed to be about 25,000, and the affected now account for over 5 lakh.