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BHOPAL: They survived an unseen killer, only to be felled by another 36 years later. All five Bhopalis who have died of Covid-19 were gas tragedy victims.

In a twist of fate, they couldn’t even step into BMHRC — the hospital meant for gas tragedy victims – because it had been taken over by the state government as a dedicated Covid-19 facility. All five died in private hospitals while BMHRC has not a single patient – covid or otherwise.

The latest to die was 73-year-old Ashfaq Nadvi on Tuesday. He, too, belonged to Jehangirabad locality, as did the third and fourth victims -- Imran and Rajkumar Yadav.

The first gas victim to die of coronavirus in Bhopal was 55-year-old Naresh Khatik on April 7. He had lifelong respiratory disorder due to exposure to the killer gas, so did the second victim, Jagannath Maithil, 77. They lived in Ibrahimpura and Chowki Imambada. These two localities and Jehangirabad have a high percentage of gas tragedy survivors.

Following Yadav’s death in on Monday, the district administration began sanitizing all of Jehangirabad and screening 50,000 to 60,000 residents of the area on Tuesday. Sanitisation was on when news came of Nadvi’s death.

“We kept reminding the state government and the district administration to pay special attention to gas victims as hundreds of them already have lung and kidney ailments. Many have cancer, diabetes and heart problems, but no one paid us any heed. You can now see what is happening,” said Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information & Action, an NGO working among survivors of gas disaster.

BMHRC

Activist wrote to Centre in protest

BMHRC would now have 40 beds for Covid patients and those in need of specialised treatment like ventilators would be referred to Chirayu medical college. Earlier, the state government through an order dated March 23 had notified BMHRC into a dedicated Covid-19 treatment centre.

In the last two weeks, four of the five people who tested positive for Covid-19 and died, were linked to being victims of the gas disaster. BMHRC provides free treatment for people affected from the gas leak of 1984.

The 350-bedded BMHRC, which became functional in 2000, was specially built for the gas victims at the direction of the Supreme Court to provide the 500,000 gas victims the best possible medical treatment, said N D Jayapraksh in a memorandum on to government. He is convenor of Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti .

In a letter to the state government on March 23, Jayapraksh had demanded Union government to overturn the said decision of the government of MP. “Not because we are in any way trying to undermine the threat of corona virus. On the contrary, we are shocked by the complete insensitivity displayed by the government to the health needs and wellbeing of the Bhopal gas victims since they constitute the most vulnerable section of the Bhopal population at risk of Covid infection, he said.

