Thousands of children died or were permanently disabled. Investigations in the affected areas have revealed that 70 per cent of the children born before the disaster continue to suffer from respiratory diseases and 55 per cent from affected eyesight.
Children born after the disaster have not been spared. Doctors warn worse effects remain to be seen. Parents are likely to pass on genetic aberrations caused by inhaling the noxious fumes to their children -- through breast milk and genetically.
The terrible incident threatens to engender a generation of 'Carbide children', who will carry forward the toxic legacy of their parents in the form of genetic disorders.