WASHINGTON: On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal chemical disaster, three Senators have introduced a resolution to designate December 3 as National Chemical Disaster Awareness Day.Introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden and Peter Welch, the resolution recognises the 40-year effort of the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster in India to ensure that no other community around the world suffers another such catastrophe by designating December 3 as National Chemical Disaster Awareness Day.On December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide pesticide factory released a dense cloud of toxic methyl isocyanate gas into Bhopal, killing 8,000 people within 72 hours and permanently injuring 5,00,000 more in what is considered to be the world’s worst industrial disaster.Applauding the resilience of the Bhopal chemical disaster survivors in battling to overcome ill health, poverty, and marginalization to try to establish a deterrent against future chemical disasters; the resolution calls on the Department of Justice to take timely steps in response to requests by the Indian Government concerning Dow Inc., who purchased the Union Carbide facility where the disaster took place.
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