Bhopal disaster: 28% more deaths in the gas exposed population, says study

BHOPAL: More than three decades after the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, the ‘affected’ population's kidney failure rate is three times more than average population. Twice as many 'gas affected' are dying of cancers, respiratory illnesses and even more are falling sick each day, according to a detailed five-year study report on status of prepared Bhopal-based NGO Sambhavna trust clinic, released here on Saturday.
The study reports 28% more deaths in the gas exposed population in comparison to the unexposed population pointing to the fact of continuing deaths associated with Bhopal gas leak exposure.
The reported titled ‘health and healthcare in gas exposed and unexposed populations’ has linked data points from the gas exposed and unexposed populations on deaths in their immediate families between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2017. “It shows that the rates of deaths for causes other than accidents in exposed and unexposed populations are 63.48 and 49.32 respectively,” said Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), representative Rachna Dhingra.
Report links statistical evidence of a number of diseases related to the respiratory, ocular, gastrointestinal, reproductive, neurological, immunological, psychological and other systems caused by toxic gas exposure.
Around 5.72 lakh people are accounted to be gas affected in the state capital, where a gas leak from UCIL pesticide plant killed thousands and maimed lakh on the night of December 2 and 3 in 1984. #4 years on, dependents of the victims are too categorised to receive free health care.
Sambhavna Trust Clinic made focused efforts from 2010 to 2011 to register a cohort population for studying the long term health impact of exposure to Union Carbide's poisons, in the form of gas or contaminated ground water. The cohort population registered by the CRU at the Sambhavna Trust Clinic includes about 94,000 persons who had had exposure to Union Carbide's gas leak, water contaminated by Union Carbide's hazardous waste, to both gas and contaminated water and persons of similar socio-economic status without exposure to gas or contaminated water.