New Delhi - Bhopal residents are still angry with Union Carbide, owner of the chemical plant that 25 years ago Thursday released a poisonous gas cloud that killed more than 15,000 people and injured hundreds of thousands more in what's been termed the world's worst industrial accident.

Residents are also angry at Dow Chemical, which acquired Union Carbide in 2001 and washed its hands of any inherited responsibility.

But many are at least as angry with the Indian government, which settled for what they say was a ridiculously low sum and has since failed to care for its people.

"We drink poison every day, even as our government keeps promising us clean water," said Hazara, 46, who uses only one name. "Union Carbide has been sold to Dow, and now the central government is sitting in their laps without concern for us."

Over the years, "Bhopal" has become shorthand for corporate irresponsibility, fueling debates over multinational morality, the environment and codes of conduct.

In a bid to keep the memory of Bhopal alive, Madhya Pradesh, the state that includes the rusting factory on 67 acres, has suggested turning the site into a museum like those in Hiroshima, Chernobyl or New York's ground zero.

The idea has drawn howls from residents, however, who say the area should be cleaned up and victims' needs addressed first.

Union Carbide agreed in 1989 to a $470 million out-of-court settlement with the Indian government, absolving it of future liability. That's translated into about $500 for many victims and survivors. Tens of thousands more, unable to navigate the registration process, received nothing, critics said.

"It's like we are beggars and they are paying us alms," said Hazara, who said her $500 was depleted within months, leaving her to nurse several sick family members suffering from chronic fatigue and vision problems. "What do we have to do to get justice?"

Residents have called for Michigan-based Dow Chemical to mount a thorough cleanup. They say the 350 tons of toxic waste in and around the plant - never properly treated - continues to kill crops, pollute groundwater and cause cancer, birth defects, neurological damage, chaotic menstrual cycles and mental illness.

A report released this week by Bhopal Medical Appeal, an advocacy group, said local groundwater tested in June contained 2,400 times the recommended safe levels of carbon tetrachloride, a known carcinogen banned from U.S. consumer products in the 1970s.

Bhopal, a city of 1.8 million, has been installing piped water, but an estimated 25,000 residents still rely on wells and other groundwater sources.

Dow says it never operated the Bhopal plant and bears no responsibility; Union Carbide said on its Web site that the accident was a terrible tragedy but that it met its obligations.

At the time, the company was Indian managed, Union Carbide added, and India's Supreme Court approved the final settlement. The chemical giant said an investigation that it funded found the accident resulted from sabotage, a claim locals dispute.

Business student Sanjay Verma, 25, said all the finger-pointing is counterproductive.

"If we keep blaming each other, there's no way out," said Verma, who lost his parents, three sisters and two brothers when he was 6 months old. "What the people need is clean water, a cure for their illnesses and financial rehabilitation."

In recent days, victims' groups have organized marches, photo exhibitions, poetry readings, effigy burnings and a "benign buffet" in which government officials were invited to dine on "reactor residue quiche," "lime sludge mousse," "tar souffle" and other dishes made from the toxic waste that officials say is harmless. Predictably, none showed up.

While the gates remain shuttered at the hulking factory, the nightmares live on. Bano, 45, who uses only one name, recalled waking up coughing that night.

"My eyes were burning, and everyone outside was shouting 'run,' " she said. "I woke our children up and ran out, collapsed, then woke up in a hospital."

Death soon visited the family. Her husband died of cancer a few months later, followed by her brother-in-law, mother, brother, sister-in-law and their two children, all from tuberculosis or cancer.

Some who survived the accident wished they hadn't, expressing irritation that the world seems interested only on major anniversaries.

"I can't sleep at night, can't digest food properly, my eyes keep watering, and I want to scratch my infected skin all the time," Bano said. "It would have been better to die than endure what I'm going through now."

Satinath Sarangi, 54, a metallurgist and advocate, said the fundamental problem is the nexus between government and corporate greed.

Union Carbide got off easily in the 1980s because pesticides were a cornerstone of New Delhi's "green revolution" policy to enhance agricultural productivity, he said. A quarter of a century later, multinationals continue to wield enormous influence over governments guilty of measuring progress solely in economic terms.

"If you are an ordinary person, you can't depend on your government, judiciary or regulatory bodies to protect you from corporate crime," he said.

Anshul Rana in the Times' New Delhi bureau contributed to this report.