Verdict that took 26 years!!!

Its about verdict that took 26 long years for the murderous Bhopal gas tragedy.
“The Bhopal Gas Tragedy “ has been lost in the collective consciousness of the nation. Yes, life has to go on - we must light candles and offer prayers for the victims of September, 11 2001 - but do spare a thought for those who lost their lives in their devotion to duty.

Third of December 1984 dawned like any other day at Bhusaval Junction the heart of Central Railway operations. It was a pleasant bracing winter morning and it was “…business as usual….” The 00-00 hours to 08-00 hours shift in the Control Office was busy tying up the loose ends of the previous day’s operations and gathering information to plan the day’s work. The telephone lines were buzzing from different directions and all the ‘control boards’ were busy like the proverbial beehives. North bound trains towards Itarsi Junction, South bound trains towards Mumbai, West bound trains towards Surat and East bound trains towards Nagpur marked their progress on the control charts.

By about 6-00 a.m it was evident that a disaster had struck Bhopal. No trains were leaving Bhopal and those which entered just seemed to have disappeared into a ‘black hole’ till the yard was full and no more trains could be admitted.
The initial reports were almost flippant – “…. some evil fairy has struck and sleeping sickness has overtaken Bhopal….” Wild rumours started spreading. In the aftermath of the 1984 riots the militant Sikh organisations were blamed for everything.
Black 3rd December brought the news that people had been dropping dead like flies in Bhopal and those who could manage were scrambling into trains which were running away from Bhopal. There was a mass exodus with the Government functionaries abandoning Bhopal and commandeering whatever vehicles were available.

Meanwhile, rumours had spread that a second wave of poisonous gas, even deadlier than the first one, had broken loose and the steady exodus further swelled due to the rush of the panic stricken residents.

Nobody knew exactly what had happened except that some gas had engulfed Bhopal and as the sun rose the gas diffused and finally dispersed leaving in its wake thousands of humans choking, coughing and blinded. The “council of war” at the Bhusaval control office decided that a relief train should start immediately. On the presumption that only a nerve gas could disable people so rapidly, all the stocks of ATROPINE were commandeered along with hundreds of vials of eye drops.We found that the ATROPINE vials and “Visine” eye drops were useless. I still do not know whether there is an antidote to METHYL ISOCYANATE - the poisonous substance which had annihilated everyone near the Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal.