India’s Supreme Court is due to hear a petition seeking more compensation for survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, one of the world’s worst industrial accidents.

The government, survivor groups and unions are seeking $1.2-bln, more than double the original court-sanctioned settlement agreed with Union Carbide Corporation in 1989.

The action’s being brought against Dow Chemicals, which now owns UCC.

The compensations came amid a wave of protests against a lack of justice.

Between 2250 and 8000 people were killed when highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas escaped UCC’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, central India, and blanketed surrounding towns.

Close to 600,000 were injured.

The petition was issued 11 years ago as a “Curative Petition”, used in narrowly defined situations to correct judgments entered as a result of procedural judicial error.

Aljazeera.