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Does anyone of you even vaguely remember the chapter on the “Bhopal Gas Tragedy” that were taught to us in the school days and was part of our regular curriculum? If yes, you might be thinking what made me pick up such a topic which happened very long ago and even forgotten from the memories of Indians. Fickle, extremely so, we Indians are when any kind of huge incident sees an up rise which is mostly momentarily and as soon it subsides and daily life commences.
Just to brush off the rust off you memories, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was one of the gas leak incidents which took place in a place called Bhopal in India which is also considered as one of the worst industrial disasters in the entire planet. It was in the fateful night of 2nd to 3rd of December, year 1984 where a leak took place in the Union Carbide India Limited, abbreviated as the UCIL pesticide plant leaked and emitted highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas along with other chemicals and led to the death of innumerous people all over, the official toll being over two thousand. While the actual number of death tolls still is questionable, the number of people who were injured were over fifty five thousand which contained over four thousand people permanently or severely injured and disabled and other over forty thousand with less grave injuries. Things took to worse when within a period of two week’s time, eight thousand of the people died due to the disaster and more of same number died of gas related ailments.
Shocking isn’t it? Now, where does Satinath Sarangi fit in this scenario you must be thinking? Before taking about the great man and hero, Satinath Sarangi, let us first delve a way bit into his life so that things get clearer.
Does anyone of you even vaguely remember the chapter on the “Bhopal Gas Tragedy” that were taught to us in the school days and was part of our regular curriculum? If yes, you might be thinking what made me pick up such a topic which happened very long ago and even forgotten from the memories of Indians. Fickle, extremely so, we Indians are when any kind of huge incident sees an up rise which is mostly momentarily and as soon it subsides and daily life commences.
Just to brush off the rust off you memories, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was one of the gas leak incidents which took place in a place called Bhopal in India which is also considered as one of the worst industrial disasters in the entire planet. It was in the fateful night of 2nd to 3rd of December, year 1984 where a leak took place in the Union Carbide India Limited, abbreviated as the UCIL pesticide plant leaked and emitted highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas along with other chemicals and led to the death of innumerous people all over, the official toll being over two thousand. While the actual number of death tolls still is questionable, the number of people who were injured were over fifty five thousand which contained over four thousand people permanently or severely injured and disabled and other over forty thousand with less grave injuries. Things took to worse when within a period of two week’s time, eight thousand of the people died due to the disaster and more of same number died of gas related ailments.
Shocking isn’t it? Now, where does Satinath Sarangi fit in this scenario you must be thinking? Before taking about the great man and hero, Satinath Sarangi, let us first delve a way bit into his life so that things get clearer.
Satinath Sarangi was a man, born and brought up in Orissa state of India and from his early days, he was actively a part of various campaigns which involved doing good to humanity. An engineer and a PhD holder in Metallurgical engineering, Sathyu (as he wants people to call him) his bread and butter was research work, yet he still took active interest in social work and campaigns.
It was in the year 1984 that he was in a small village about 100 kilometers away from the city of Bhopal that via a radio broadcast he came to know of the gas leak in there. The social worker in him triggered and he sprang into action and thought of helping out the people over there in any way that he could and reached Bhopal immediately.
However, he never expected the things that he encountered when he entered the city of Bhopal just a few days after the greatest industrial disaster the world was shaken with.
He is known to have stated, “So many different things were happening at the same time. Mass suffering and misery”, he was devastated with the sight. He met a man whose story he was quite great enough to share, “I met a man whose hands were covered…in huge blisters. He told me that..all he did for three days and three nights was dig graves. The mass graves- he just dug and dug and dug.”
This man who still shines as a knight in shining armor for the locals in Bhopal is currently a permanent resident in there who went there to help the people and stays with them and is still fighting for their rights till today.
A man who was just shocked and depressed to see the large amount of casualties that this disaster could bring on, he did not stop at that. Instead, he went ahead and started off doing relief work for the needy, was trying and raising awareness among people.
While doing what he was doing amidst the disaster condition in the city, he knew that an association was necessary to protest against the faults of the government whose help at that time were not sufficient and thus co- founded the Zahereeli Gas Kand Sangharsh Morcha.
This was all happening when the cause of the leak was mostly been regarded as the result of bad maintenance and wrong and indifference from the management’s end.
While he was into the struggle to help out the families still under the terror of the tragedy, even after one month effective help from the government of the State did not reach the survivors.
Sathyu recalls, “We had no infrastructure, no money at all, no members. And, yet 15, 000 people came with us” to demonstrate outside the house of the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and yes, now he is a part of the then created organizations which was just a proliferation at the time of the disaster.
Two years post the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Sathyu was still in Bhopal. He came to be one of the founding members of Bhopal Group from Information and Action (BGIA) which was created in order to provide information and support the various survivor organizations and help initiate international and national campaigns.
While he continues to be a part of Bhopal and campaigns and does social work for the survivors, due to the worse medical condition issues which were evident in terms of the gas leak survivors, Sathyu helped in establishing the Sambhavna Trust (meaning possibilities) and the Sambhavna Medical Clinic in the year 1995 which at the moment is full with all modern amenities and age old techniques of treatment as well the modern ones are used to treat patients.
An educated man, who might have had a brighter future had he stuck to his government research work still works for the gas leak survivors in Bhopal, looking after their requirements and medical needs and raises campaigns to resolve any potential issues.
This is what Sathyu is made up of! A man with extreme zeal, determination and courage, who had the guts to leave his job and serve the people in distress and still serving them till date!
A real hero, an example to not only Bhopal but to the entire world! Humanity prevails in him and thus is he the perfect hero and role model that we need today.
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