San Francisco: Two women -- Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla -- who have been fighting for the last 20 years for compensation for victims of Bhopal gas tragedy, the world's worst industrial disaster, have been awarded this year's Goldman Environmental Prize, described as the Nobel Prize for environment.

The award, which was founded by a US insurance executive, Richard Goldman in 1990 and carries 1,25,000 dollars, have been given to them for their "courage and tenacity" in fighting for compensation to the victims of the 1984 poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide factory that left hundreds of people dead.

Forty-eight-year old Bee, who along with 52-year old Shukla, have arrived in San Francisco from Bhopal to receive the honour, said, "this award is a victory for all the survivors of the Bhopal disaster. We may be poor and illiterate, but that does not mean that a US multinational can get away with murder."

She said, "the progress in the legal case is so slow that sometimes one feels like giving up, then an award like this teaches us to keep our spirits up. We have to get Dow Chemicals to clean up Bhopal's groundwater."

The citation said, "despite their poverty and poor health due to toxic gas exposure, Bee and Shukla have emerged as leaders in the global fight to hold Dow Chemicals accountable for the infamous 1984 Union Carbide gas leak."

It said, "together, they have made the struggle for justice for survivors of Bhopal a powerful validation of women's role on the frontlines of India's civil society."