The group of ministers on the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy has decided to give an extra Rs 72 crore compensation for the kin of those who died in the disaster, but were not considered for relief earlier.
The ministerial panel, chaired by home minister P Chidambaram, on Monday reviewed the progress made on the recommendations given earlier to the government. The government is now in the process of bringing to justice the accused in the industrial disaster under more stringent charges.
The CBI had on August 2 filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court requesting restoration of stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused.
The government is also pursuing in the Jabalpur High Court in Madhya Pradesh a case aimed at forcing Dow Chemicals, which acquired the Union Carbide after the tragedy, to pay for cleaning up the disaster site. The government is of the view that the present owner of Union Carbide?the ?polluter??has to pay for remediation. The government will first spend Rs 300 crore for cleaning up the site, and wants Dow Chemicals to ultimately foot the bill.
The cabinet had, in June this year, accepted the recommendations of the ministerial panel and decided to push for extradition of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson. It had also announced a Rs 1265.56 crore package for relief and remediation.