Adil is a normal teenager, except that he'll never walk. His legs are withered, so weak that he has to crawl on hands and knees. He is one of hundreds od children born malformed or brain-damaged in families living near the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal.
"At about 12.30 am I woke to the sound of Ruby coughing badly. The room was not dark, there was a street light nearby. In the half light I saw that the room was filled with a white cloud. I heard a great noise of people shouting. They were yelling ‘bhaago, bhaago’ (run, run). Mohsin started coughing too and then I started coughing with each breath seeming as if we were breathing in fire."
Aziza is a comminity health worker at the Sambhavna Clinic. She tells her story of 'that night' in her own words.
AMIR, THE BOY WHOSE FINGERS were fused, lives in Blue Moon Colony, on swampy ground between the toxic ponds and the railway line. In this place, many children are born with physical and mental defects and virtually everyone is ill. The pesticide residues are everywhere. At times, when the wind gets up, whirlwinds of chemical dust play in the alleys alongside the children.
"My name is Saîra Bi. My father Mohamed Khan Gudna Godnewalé (the tattoo artist) has lived all his sixty years in one mud hut in Chhola Naka, Bhopal. All of us children from his two marriages were born there. We were ten brothers and sisters. Four of us are dead. One sister died before the gas disaster, another died on ‘that night’. My twin brothers died two years later. Four brothers and two sisters survive."
Saira Bi's tragic story in her own words. Click here to read the full story.
Sunil, you thought you were mad, but a world without justice is madder. At least you are now safe. We scattered your ashes in the flooded Narmada river, and for your funeral feast we followed your precise instructions: quarter bottle of Goa brand whisky, mutton curry from Dulare's hotel near the bus stand, betel nut, tobacco and all. Were you there with us? If not, who was it that in the darkness chuckled, 'I am no longer afraid of being killed – I am already dead and fearless.'
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'To be able to hear the voices, direct and unmediated, of the survivors of the Bhopal disaster is crucial both for us and for the verdict of history. This book is a vital contribution to the story of Bhopal.' Paul Kingsnorth. Learn more.
