Bhopal at 25 - New Fallout Study in the Works

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is funding a study to measure the fallout of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984. The official 25th Anniversary of the tragedy is this December. Many Indian Government officials feel that further investigation of the tragedy's fallout is needed

According to some estimates, 25,000 people have died of gas-related diseases. Several thousands were maimed for life.

Calling it "an unfinished story that requires an urgent relook", secretary of the newly formed Department of Health Research (DHR) and director general of ICMR Dr V M Katoch told TOI that proposals had been invited from the country's scientific fraternity to restudy what is considered one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

The ICMR is putting out a call for research proposals. The research is going to measure the presence of low birth weight in children born in December 1984 and if there was an increase in congenital malformations and genetic disorders in the community since the disaster.