BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY IN 1984

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BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
 INTRODUCTION:
The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident in
India, considered the world's worst industrial disaster that occurred on the night of December
2–3, 1984 at the Union carbide India Limited (UCIL) Pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh, India. A leak of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals from the plant
resulted in the exposure of thousands of people. The toxic substance spread its way in and
around the neighborhood located near the plant. That Resulted in a very high death toll. The
official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a
total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.

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 MAP AND LOCATION:
 PLACE AND DATE OF OCCURANCE:
It occurred on the night of 2nd–3rd December 1984 at the Union Carbide
India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
UNION CARBIDE INDIA LIMITED
UCIL, built in 1969, which was the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC),
with Indian Government controlled banks and the Indian public holding a 49.1% stake.

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 In 1994, the Supreme Court of India allowed UCC to sell its 50.9% share. Union Carbide
sold UCIL, the Bhopal plant operator, to Eveready Industries India Limited in 1994.
 The Bhopal plant was later sold to McLeod Russel (India) Ltd. Dow Chemical
Company purchased UCC in 2001.
 Phosgene, Monomethlyamine, Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) and the pesticide
Carbaryl, also known as Sevin were manufactured here.
PLANT PRODUCTION PROCESS:
 UCC produced carbaryl using MIC as an intermediate.
 After the Bhopal plant was built, other manufacturers including Bayer produced carbaryl
without MIC, though at a greater manufacturing cost.
 However, Bayer also uses the UCC process at the chemical plant once owned by UCC at
Institute, West Virginia, USA and many other states.

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 Methylamine (1) reacts with phosgene (2) producing methyl isocyanate (3) which reacts with
1-naphthol (4) to yield carbaryl (5)
FACTORS LEAD TO THE MAGNITUDE OF GAS LEAK :
• Storing MIC in large tanks and filling beyond recommended levels.
• The flare tower and several vent gas scrubbers had been out of service for five months before
the disaster.
• Failure of several safety systems.
• Also some safety systems being switched off to save money, including the MIC tank
refrigeration the MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius, not the 4.5 degrees advised by the
manual.
• There was only one manual back-up system, compared to a four-stage system used by union
carbide plant of USA.
• Lack of skilled operators-No proper training was given to them.
OVERALL VIEW OF THE GAS LEAK:

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• The scientific reason that caused the accident was that water entered the tank where about 40
cubic meters of MIC was stored.
• As a result, the safety valve of the tank burst because of the increase in pressure.
• It is presumed that between 20 and 30 tonnes of MIC were released during the hour that the
leak took place.
• The gas leaked from a 30 m high chimney and this height was not enough to reduce the
effects of the discharge.
OTHER CAUSES:
• Use of more dangerous pesticide manufacturing method for decreasing the generation cost.

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• Plant located very close to a densely populated area.
• Lack of skilled operators.
• Reduction of safety management.
UICL PLANT AFTER DISASTER:
PEOPLE INVOLVED:
CEO of the company Warren Anderson was charged with Man-slaughter and was asked to
compensate for the loss. UCIL factory was sealed. Seven men worked in that company have
been jailed.
PEOPLES AFFECTED:
 The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has
confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.
 Others estimate 8,000 died within two weeks and another 8,000 or more have since died from
gas-related diseases.
 A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 5,58,125 injuries including 38,478
temporary partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.

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 2,000 bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed.
DEVASTATING NATURE OF THE TRAGEDY:
SURVEY AND PRESENT DAY STUDIES:
 A house to house symptom survey conducted in 1993:
 Respiratory diseases 65.7%
 Neurological 68.4%
 Ophthalmic 49%
 Reproductive 43.2% (of people in reproductive age)
 1990 : Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA)
 Testing by Citizens Environmental Laboratory, Boston
 Presence of at least seven toxic chemicals
 Lead and mercury found in breast milk samples: Greenpeace
EFFECT ON HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT:
 Poorly understood, 120000 chronic survivors
 Respiratory: Persistent fibrosis, Chronic Bronchitis, TB
 Ocular: Chronic conjunctivitis, Corneal opacity
 Reproductive: Pregnancy loss, Higher infant mortality
 Gastro-intestinal: Hyperacidity, Chronic gastritis
 Neurological: Impaired memory and motor skills
 Genetic damage to plants
 Rivers and lakes polluted by chemicals: destroying aquatic and animals thriving on the
sources

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AFTERMATH OF THE TRAGEDY:
 Medical staff were unprepared for the thousands of casualties.
 Doctors and hospitals were not informed of proper treatment methods for MIC gas
inhalation. They were told to simply give cough medicine and eye drops to their patients.
 The gases immediately caused visible damage to the trees. Within a few days, all the leaves
fell off.
 2,000 bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed of.
 "Operation Faith": On December 16, the tanks 611 and 619 were emptied of the remaining
MIC. This led to a second mass evacuation from Bhopal.
REHABILITATION:
 Immediate relief was decided two days after the tragedy.
 Relief measures commenced in 1985 when food was distributed for a short period and ration
cards were distributed.
 Widow pension of the rate of Rs 200/per month (later Rs 750) was provided.
 One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 1,500 to families with monthly income Rs 500 or less was
decided.
 2,486 flats in two- and four-story buildings were constructed in the "Widows colony" outside
Bhopal. The water did not reach the upper floors. It was not possible to keep cattle.
Infrastructure like buses, schools, etc. was missing for at least a decade.
ACTIONS TAKEN AFTER THE TRAGEDY:
 Indian government closed plant to outsiders and failed in making the data public.
 The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) were forbidden to publish
their data on health effects until after 1994
 The Indian Government and UCC deny permanent injuries were caused by MIC
 UCIL paid a token of $470 million even though asked a total compensation of
$3.3billion.But the government said nothing
 The government sent safely Mr. Anderson the CEO of UCIL at the time of massacre, to
US
 Civil and criminal cases are still pending in United States District Court, Manhattan
and the District Court of Bhopal, India, involving UCC, UCIL employees, and Warren
Anderson.
o PROTEST:

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COMPENSATION AND LEGAL ASPECTS:
 Compensation of $470 million ($500 per dead).
 Twenty years of passiveness.
 Case was reviewed and put up in American Court.
 DOW Refused Union Carbide’s Liabilities in Bhopal, India.
 In order to provide safe drinking water to the population around the UCIL factory,
Government of Madhya Pradesh presented a scheme for improvement of water supply.
 Supreme court directed the UCC and M.P. govt. to take immediate steps for disposal of toxic
waste lying around and inside the factory
 When UCC wanted to sell its shares in UCIL, it was directed by the Supreme Court to
finance a 500-bed hospital for the medical care of the survivors. Bhopal Memorial Hospital
and Research Centre (BMHRC) was inaugurated in 1998. It was obliged to give free care for
survivors for eight years.
WHAT COULD HAD BEEN DONE TO AVOID DISASTER:
 Supervisor could have been placed on night shifts and the readings and feedback of the
Equipment could have been taken for every one hour.

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 There should have been 4 stage backup system (union carbide plant of USA) instead of a one
manual backup system.
 At regular intervals proper maintenance and servicing of Flare towers, pressure valves, gas
scrubbers must have be made.
 Strict regulations and methods must have been used according to the manual.
 Proper pressure gauges should have been used.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 Wikipedia
 Environmental books
 Times of India