December 7, 1984, 40 years ago: Air declared ‘safe’ four days after Bhopal gas accident

December 7, 2024 05:00 IST

First published: December 7, 2024 at 05:00 IST

Bhopal Air Safe

Eight lakh citizens of Bhopal, victims of the worst chemical disaster in the world’s history, breathed a sigh of relief when technical experts declared the air they were breathing “completely safe”. Four days after the toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide plant, it was announced that “no trace of toxic substance was seen anywhere” in the atmosphere of Bhopal.

Indian trawler sunk

India has expressed “deep concern” over the sinking of an Indian trawler in Sri Lankan waters and has asked the Sri Lankan government to exercise greater caution over what Colombo considers an intrusion. Colombo was also told not to fire on unarmed fishing boats. The High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, Bernard Tillakaratne, has said that the arrested Indian nationals should be released immediately and given adequate compensation.

Attack on Vajpayee

Bharatiya Janata Party President Atal Bihari Vajpayee sustained head, right hand and leg injuries due to stone pelting at Nandasan in Mehsana district. According to BJP’s AK Patel, Vajpayee’s car was attacked when he stopped at Nandasan to inaugurate the party’s election office. He was stoned before he got out of the car.

Prime Minister in Foreign Legion

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi announced that India will not be blacklisted by any foreign power. He criticized the opposition for divisive and anti-national propaganda while alerting the people to the conspiracy of foreign powers to push the country towards a dictatorial regime. Gandhi said, “Countries around us are succumbing to such economic, political and military pressure” and that they “must stop the dictatorship in India.”

Leave a Comment