Two Bhopal women who have defied social norms, poverty and sickness in a quest to hold Dow Chemical Company accountable for the 1984 Union Carbide disaster that killed more than 20,000 people in India are being honoured here Monday as environmental champions.
Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla are among seven grass roots activists from around the globe being awarded this year's Goldman Environmental Prize. Each award, referred to as the Nobel Prize for the environment, comes with 125,000 dollars that the winners are free to spend as they wish.
"Getting this award is going to, once again, bring the issue of continuing disaster in Bhopal to the world's attention," Bee said during an interview in the Goldman offices.
"We think this will help get more people, including trade unions and students, to join with the victims."
Shukla and Bee plan to use the prize money to create a trust fund dedicated to providing medical care for children of disaster survivors and developing employment options for those driven from careers by effects of the toxins.
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