During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the city on Thursday, children disabled by Union Carbide and Dow Chemical's poison held a banner that stated, ‘Bhopal Survivors just need 15 minutes, Sir’ and the children help placards stating, ‘Poisoned by Union Carbide abandoned by Indian Government.’
The PM motorcade passed the airport road where disabled children stood with banners and placards.
The 5 organisations of survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal had asked for a 15 minute meeting with the PM during his visit to the city to discuss the lingering issues of compensation, criminal justice and clean up.
While several scientific studies have shown the genetic impact of the disaster and the effect on the next generation neither the State nor the Central Government has provided any medical care or rehabilitation.
They hoped that PM would have at the very least found time to meet the disabled children who were holding banners and placards asking for 15 minutes of his time.
However, the children and people affected by the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy could not meet Prime Minister Modi, who had come here to inaugurate the 10th edition of the three-day World Hindi Conference.
The physically challenged children of those affected by the tragedy had expressed their wish to meet the Prime Minister but their call went unanswered.
The children waited for him beside the road which Modi's convoy took to reach the venue of the conference from the airport.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information said, "When the Prime Minister's car went past the children, he saw them but he did not stop."