Five organizations of survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal on Thursday expressed gratitude to the members of UK Parliament who have signed on to an Early Day Motion (EDM) tabled in the Parliament on November 28.

Forty members of the Parliament including representatives from five political parties and three independent MPs have signed on to an EDM that calls for those responsible for the disaster to be brought to justice, calls upon Dow Chemicals, owner of Union Carbide, “to urgently rectify the environmental damage and properly compensate the victims” and commends the work of Bhopal based journalist late Rajkumar Keswani.

“It is significant that the recent leadership of the opposition namely Jeremy Corbyn an independent and Andy Macdonald of the Labour party have supported the EDM.” said Rashida Bee, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh. She expressed hope that more MPs will sign on to the Motion and lingering issues of Bhopal will receive the attention of the UK parliament in the near future.

Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal group for Information & Action informed that the motion was moved by Navendu Mishra a Labour MP of Indian origin. “Earlier Navendujee secured a debate in the UK Parliament over

issues of justice, remediation of contaminated lands and adequate compensation for the victims. His efforts resulted in the UK Minister of state in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Anne-Marie Trevelyan, to commit to raise issues of Bhopal with Indian

counterparts during ongoing discussions on trade and cooperation.”

“We hope the active support of the UK parliamentarians will inspire parliamentarians worldwide to come to the aid of the Bhopal survivors who are currently fighting for adequate compensation, cleaning up of poisons from soil and groundwater, punishment of the guilty corporations and medical and social rehabilitation,” said Balkrishna

Namdeo, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogee Sangharsh Morcha.