Man made disaster

1. Man-made Disasters In
India And In World
Mostaque Ahmed
PGT
GMCH, Guwahati

2. Introduction
A disaster is a serious disruption, occurring over a
relatively short time of the functioning of a community
or a society involving widespread human, material,
economic or environmental loss and impacts that
exceeds the ability of the affected community or
society to cope using its own resources.

3. Classification
The types are –
• Natural disasters
• Man-made disasters

4. Types of Man-Made Disasters
• Nuclear disaster
• Biological disaster
• Chemical Disaster
• Fire accidents
• Travel accidents
• Terrorism
• Societal hazards
• Pollution

5. Nuclear Accidents
It occurs due to nuclear fission and fusion reactions.
E.g. For fission bombs: atomic bombs
E.g. For fusion bombs: hydrogen bombs
SYMPTOMS:
vomiting, nausea, dizziness, etc.
PRECAUTIONS:
 Don't look at the fire as it causes instant blindness
 Close all doors and windows as radioactivity doesn't
penetrate solid structures.
 Cover all food and water and listen govt. orders.

6. Nuclear: Do's & Don'ts
DO’s
• Go indoors. Stay inside.
• Switch on the radio/television and look out for public announcements
from your local authority.
• Close doors/windows.
• Cover all food, and water and consume only such covered items.
• If in the open, cover your face and body with a wet handkerchief, towel,
dhoti, or sari. Return home, change/remove clothes. Have a complete
wash and use fresh clothing.
• Extend full cooperation with local authorities and obey their instructions
completely -- be it for taking medication, evacuation, etc.
• You must be aware of nuclear radiation hazards. Discuss Nuclear
radiation safety among children and family members, to reduce their fear
of radiation

7. Don'ts
• Do not panic.
• Do not believe in rumors passed on by word of mouth from one
person to another.
• Do not stay outside/or go outside.
• As far as possible, AVOID water from open wells/ponds;
exposed crops and vegetables; food, water, or milk from
outside.
• Do not disobey any instruction of the district or civil defense
authorities who would be doing their best to ensure the safety
of you, your family, and your property.

8. Biological Disaster
Biological disasters are natural scenarios involving disease,
disability, or death on a large scale among humans, animals, and
plants due to micro-organisms like bacteria, viruses, or toxins.
Biological disasters are causative of processes or phenomena of
organic origin or conveyed by biological vectors, including exposure
to pathogenic micro-organisms, toxins, and bioactive substances that
may cause loss of life, injury, illness or other health impacts, property
damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic
disruption, or environmental damage. Examples of biological
disasters include outbreaks of epidemic diseases, plant or animal
contagion, insect or other animal plagues, and infestation.
E.g. Bioweapons like nerve gas

9. Biological disasters may be in the form of:-
Epidemic affecting a disproportionately large number of
individuals within a population, community, or region at the same
time, examples being Cholera, Plague, Japanese Encephalitis
(JE)/Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES); or,
A pandemic is an epidemic that spreads across a large
region, that is, a continent or even worldwide of existing, emerging,
or reemerging diseases and pestilences, an example being
Influenza H1N1 (Swine Flu).
Emergency Kit
• Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) sachets.
• Tablet Paracetamol.
• Tablet Anti-diarrhoea.
• Tablet Anti-spasmodic.

10. CHEMICAL DISASTERS
Disasters that are caused by the excessive use and misuse of
chemicals in industries are called chemical disasters.
Chemical disasters may arise in several ways, such as:-
• Process and safety systems failures
• Human errors
• Technical errors
• Management errors
• Induced effect of natural calamities
• Accidents during the transportation
• Hazardous waste processing/ disposal
• Terrorist attack/ unrest leading to sabotage

11. Precautions to be taken during and after the Chemical
(Industrial) Accidents
• Do not panic, evacuate calmly and quickly perpendicular to
wind direction through the designated escape route
• Keep a wet handkerchief or piece of cloth/ sari on your face
during an evacuation
• Keep the sick, elderly, weak, handicapped, and other people
who are unable to evacuate inside the house and close all the
doors and windows tightly.
• Do not consume the uncovered food/ water etc. open to the
air, drink only from a bottle
• Change into fresh clothing after reaching a safe place/
shelter, and wish hands properly

12. • Inform Fire & Emergency Services, Police and medical
services from a safe location by calling 101, 100 and 108
respectively.
• Listen to the PA (Public Address) System of the plant/
factory, and local radio/ TV channels for advice from
district administration/fire/health/police and other
concerned authorities
• Provide correct and accurate information to the
government official.
• Inform others on the occurrence of events at public
gathering places (like schools, shopping centres, theatres
etc.).
• Don’t pay attention to the rumours and don’t spread
rumours.

13. General Precautions During Normal Time
• Do not smoke, lit fire, or spark in the identified
hazardous area
• Sensitize the community living near the industrial units
and they should be more vigilant about the nature of
industrial units and associated risks.
• Keep the contact numbers of the nearest hazardous
industry, fire station, police station, control room, health
services, and district control room, for emergency use.
• Avoid housing near the industries producing or
processing the hazardous chemicals, if possible.
• Participate in all the capacity-building programs
organized by the government/ voluntary organizations /
industrial units.

14. • Take part in preparing a disaster management plan for the
community and identify safe shelters along with safe and
easy access routes.
• Prepare a family disaster management plan and explain it
to all the family members.
• Make the family/neighbors aware of the basic
characteristics of various poisonous/ hazardous chemicals
and the first aid required to treat them.
• an Adequate number of personal protective equipment
needs to be made available, to deal with an emergency
situation.
• Prepare an emergency kit of items and essentials in the
house, including medicines, documents, and valuables.

15. Fire Accidents
Accidents that are caused due to fire are quite common. Fire
results in heavy damage both in terms of life and property.
PRECAUTIONS :
 The main reason is poor wiring and faulty electrical
equipment, leaking gas, or carelessly thrown cigarettes and
matches.
 The main power supply source is in good condition.- Wire
should be properly covered.
 Inflammable things should be kept out of reach of
children.

16. Travel Accidents
Travel accidents are quite common. An accident that involves a no.
of people becomes a disaster.
E.g.: Air crashes. Train or vehicles collisions, capsizing of boats, etc
PRECAUTIONS:
 Efforts should be made to carry victims to a nearby hospital.
 It is the duty of people present there to get trapped people out
 If we smell fuel at the accident site, warn people and don't light
fire

17. Terrorism
Terrorism results in loss of life and property. Terrorists use violence and
strike without warning. They use bombs, guns, etc to terrorize people.
PRECAUTIONS:
 We must inform the police if we come across any suspected group of
people.
 We must stay away from any suspicious things and inform the police
about that.
 Do not accept packages from strangers.
 Do not leave luggage unattended while traveling.

18. Pollution
Major forms of pollution include air pollution, light pollution,
litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil
contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal
pollution, visual pollution, and water pollution.
Events such as motor vehicle emissions, gas leaks, oil spills,
nuclear meltdowns, and industrial fires transpire through
human error and carry grave consequences.

19. Man-made Disasters in World

20. THE SEVESO DISASTER

21. • Special measures were needed to clean up Seveso's
chemical leak.
• This industrial accident took place at a chemical plant
north of Milan, Italy. On Saturday, July 10, 1976, the
factory was producing a chemical called 2,4,5-
Trichlorophenol, which has been used as a chemical
weapon and in weedkillers, according to the journal
Chemosphere.
• On that daya chain reaction ruptured the reactor and that,
in turn, caused six tonnes of toxic chemicals to burst into
the sky.

22. CHERNOBYL MELTDOWN

23. • The explosion at Chernobyl is one of the world's
most infamous man-made disasters and with good
reason.
• Workers and firefighters were hospitalized and 28
people quickly passed away from acute radiation
exposure.
• It took nearly two weeks, and military intervention, to
extinguish the fires.
• Crucially, it took more than a day for the 50,000
residents of nearby Pripyat to be evacuated.

24. EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

25. • When the Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit the coast of Prince
William Sound, Alaska, 11 million gallons of oil spilled
across 1,300 miles and devastated wildlife populations in
the area.
• According to the National Park Service, 250,000 seabirds,
2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, 22
killer whales, and billions of salmon died because of
pollution from the spill.

26. Manmade Disasters in India

27. Bhopal Gas tragedy

28. • Bhopal gas tragedy occurred on 2 December 1984 when
toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the factory
owned by Union Carbide. Many died in their sleep while
others went blind.
• Over time, several people suffered from post-trauma
diseases, while many continue to suffer even today.
• This was one of the worst chemical disasters globally that
resulted in over 10,000 losing their lives (the actual
number remains disputed) and over 5.5 lakh persons
affected and suffering from agonizing injuries.
• The tragedy was a result of human error and poor
supervision at the factory.

29. Girish Park Kolkata Flyover Collapse

30. • It occurred on 31 March at 12.25 pm 2009 when a portion
of the under-construction Vivekananda Road flyover at
Girish Park crossing collapsed, crushing 18 people to
death and leaving over 78 injured.
• It is still early to conclude whether the poor design and/or
poor construction material contributed to the tragedy but it
is clear that lack of supervision on part of the authorities
led the contractor to be lax on quality monitoring as
construction progressed.

31. Baghjan (Assam) gas leak

32. • The 2020 Assam gas and oil leak, also referred to as
the Baghjan gas leak, is a natural gas blowout that
happened in Oil India Limited's Baghjan Oilfield in the
Tinsukia district on 27 May 2020.
• The blowout occurred at Well No. 5 in the Baghjan Oil
Field, resulting in a leak of natural gas.
• The leaking well subsequently caught fire on 9 June
2020 and resulted in three deaths (Officially), large-scale
local evacuations, and environmental damage to the
nearby Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Maguri-
Motapung Wetland.

33. Maha Kumbh mela stampede

34. • Maha Kumbh mela stampede in Allahabad, 1954
Stampede caused by poor people management and lack
of adequate infrastructure to monitor and manage large
crowd gatherings, especially during religious occasions,
has been a bane in India.
• One of the worst incidents took place just after
independence on 3 February 1954 on the occasion of
Maha Kumbh in Allahabad.
• The resulting stampede took the lives of 820 and left over
100 injured.

35. Suryanagari Express derailment

36. • 13 coaches of the Bandra Terminus-Jodhpur Suryanagari
Express train were derailed between the Rajkiawas-
Bomadra section of the Jodhpur division at 3.27 am on
2nd January 2023.
• 26 passengers were injured in the accident.