I was living with my husband, in-laws and five children in Jaiprakash Nagar, right across the Union Carbide factory, at the time of the disaster.
My youngest daughter (18 months old then) was sick that night and I was taking care of her when I suddenly started coughing. Later my eyes started burning, as if someone had put chillies in my eyes.
When I opened the door, all I could see was smoke. I could hear people screaming, 'Bhago, bhago, Carbide tank phat gaya hai' (run, the Union Carbide tank has exploded).
I woke up my children and others in the family to leave the place. We didn't know where to go and started running in the direction others were running in. I lost three of my children in the melee but fortunately traced them the next morning.
When we returned home the next day, we thought our problems would be solved after visiting the doctor. On the contrary, they started increasing and our health deteriorated.
My husband was so sick that he had to quit his job, which fetched him Rs 2,200 per month. I also worked as a domestic help making about Rs 800 per month. But all that is history. Earning two square meals a day is an uphill task now. My children and I have never been healthy after being exposed to the gas.
My husband suffered from weak eyesight, his lungs were completely destroyed, and he became so feeble that he was not even able to get up to answer nature's call. He lived with this problem for 13 years and none of the hospitals could offer him any relief. He eventually died in 1997.
While I suffer from breathlessness and constant pain in my joints, my daughter's kidney has been damaged. My other children also complain of constant pain in their joints besides breathlessness, weakness and burning sensation in their eyes.
They could not study as all our savings went into paying my husband's medical bills.
We received a compensation of Rs 108,000, but we must have spent at least Rs 500,000 on our treatment.
Our government has spent millions of rupees in building hospitals, but none of those hospitals know how to treat gas victims. Doctors don't even have the time or patience to listen to the victims' complaints and the medicines that they prescribe don't have any effect.
As told to Ipsha | Photograph: Pradeep Kumar