Bhopal marks 41 years since gas tragedy as city hopes to shed toxic legacy after waste removal
Bhopal: The ‘City of Lakes’, Bhopal, identified with the devastating gas tragedy of 1984 for the past four decades, looks to shake off the tainted tag, as it observed the 41st mishap anniversary sans the toxic wastes on Wednesday.
On January six this year, 337 tons of toxic wastes of the defunct Union Carbide factory here, stored in the complex of the plant after the tragedy for the past four decades, were shifted to a disposal site in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, bringing relief to the people of the capital city.
“The mishap had not only wreaked havoc on the city but also brought disrepute to the unique city in terms of green coverage and rich heritage, nationally and internationally, pushing its economy in limbo since then. Now that the city is freed of the toxic wastes, we hope Bhopal will shake off this tainted tag and turn into a destination of heritage and knowledge tourism”, Bhopal unit CREDAI president Manoj Meek said.
Bhopal has been the least choice of foreign tourists for the past four decades because of the tag of the gas tragedy of 1984 associated with it since then, despite the fact that the city has in its proximity two UNESCO heritage sites of Bhimbetka, and Sanchi Stupa, a tiger reserve and a beautiful mountain range.
In fact, Bhopal is the only state capital in the country which has a tiger reserve in its backyard allowing the locals to have rare sights of the big cats, known in the conservation parlance as urban tigers.
The official figure on the visit of foreign tourists to the state will justify how the negative global perception gained by the city following the mishap has devastated its tourism and other sectors, despite having immense potential in these fields.
In 2024, hardly 1,522 foreign tourists visited Bhopal as against 10,960 to Gwalior, 9,964 to Indore and 13,960 to Orchha in the state.
The state government has now lined up a series of measures to turn Bhopal a major tourist destination and software industry hub in the wake of the city being freed of the toxic wastes, a senior state government officer said.
The measures include a campaign to highlight the famous heritage sites and wooing of software industries to the city.
The state government has laid infrastructure to develop Bhopal as Software City in the line of Bengaluru.
Social activist Rachna Dhingra however said that the toxic wastes of the defunct Union Carbide factory still remained buried in the area contaminating the soil and water.
Candle light rallies were carried out and all religious prayers were held in the city on Wednesday to pay tribute to the people killed in the incident.
Over 20,000 people were killed following leakage of poisonous MIC gas in the factory in the night of December two-three, 1984.
