2,000 Arrested at Protest Urging Payments to Bhopal Survivors
BHOPAL, India — Police arrested about 2,000 protesters Monday on the third day of demonstrations by survivors of the Union Carbide gas leak of 1984.
The demonstrators are seeking payments of 1,500 rupees (about $120) per family that were promised by the state government to those whose livelihoods were disrupted by the leak of methyl isocyanate.
More than 2,000 people were killed and many thousands more injured in the disaster, which occurred on Dec. 3, 1984, at a pesticide plant owned by the U.S.-based Union Carbide Corp.
More than 800 demonstrators were arrested for defying a ban on public gatherings Saturday and Sunday outside the home of Motilal Vohra, the chief minister of the Madhya Pradesh region.
On Monday, an estimated 2,000 protesters marched in a half-mile-long procession to the minster’s home, waving banners and chanting slogans condemning the government.
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