Children of the Bhopal Gas Leak

BHOPAL, INDIA: Rishikesh, 8 years old, with his mother Sangeeta at home in the Pushpa Nagar neighborhood. Rishikesh was born to parents contaminated by a carcinogenic and mutagenic water supply. This year marks the 31st anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide gas tragedy that killed up to 10,000 of the citizens of Bhopal within 72 hours and has gone on to claim in total 25,000 lives to date. The original site of the toxic pesticide plant was never cleaned up and remains, as referred to by Greenpeace as one of the world's 'toxic hotspots'. Thousands of families, for decades, been using water contaminated with toxic chemicals as their primary supply leading to serious illnesses, including cancers, and a spate of birth defects in their children. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)