The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident in India. It occurred on the night of 2–3 December 1984 in the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas , one of the world’s most toxic chemicals, as it leaked into the atmosphere.

1. BHOPAL
GAS
TRAGEDY
, 1984
SUBMITTED BY:
SAMEER KERKETTA BE/10178/15
ANAMICA KIRTI BARLA BE/10079/15

2. BHOPAL DISASTER,1984
 The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal
gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident in India.
 It occurred on the night of 2–3 December 1984 in the
pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL)
in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
 Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl
isocyanate (MIC) gas , one of the world’s most toxic
chemicals, as it leaked into the atmosphere.
 Bhopal Gas Tragedy is one of the world's
worst industrial disasters.

3. Background of UCIL
 UCIL, built in 1969, was the Indian subsidiary of Union
Carbide Corporation (UCC).
 At the time of disaster Indian Government controlled
banks and the Indian public were holding a 49.1%
stake.
 UCIL produced pesticides and agricultural products to
cover the huge demand of Indian market.
UCIL

4. Plant Production Process
 The UCIL factory was built in 1969 to produce the pesticide Sevin
(UCC's brand name for carbaryl) using methyl isocyanate (MIC) as
an intermediate.
 Bayer company discovered a new method to produce Sevin without
using MIC. Since the new method was safer but more expensive,
UCIL continued using the cheaper but dangerous MIC method.
Fig. The chemical process
employed in the
Bhopal plant had
methylamine(1) reacting
with phosgene(2) to form
MIC(3), which was then
reacted with 1-naphthol(4)
to form the final product,
carbaryl(5).

5. Liquid MIC Storage
 The Bhopal UCIL facility housed three underground
68,000 litres liquid MIC storage tanks: E610, E611, and
E619.
 In the months leading up to the December leak, liquid
MIC production was in progress and being used to fill
these tanks.
 UCC safety regulations specified that no one tank
should be filled more than 50% (here, 30 tons) with
liquid MIC. Each tank was pressurized with inert
nitrogen gas. This pressurization allowed liquid MIC to
be pumped out of each tank as needed, and also kept
impurities out of the tanks.

6. The Pre-event phase
 In late October 1984, tank E610 lost the ability to
effectively contain most of its nitrogen gas pressure. It
meant that the liquid MIC contained within could not be
pumped out. At the time of this failure, tank E610
contained 42 tons of liquid MIC.
 Shortly after this failure, MIC production was halted at the
Bhopal facility, and parts of the plant were shut down for
maintenance. Maintenance included the shutdown of the
plant's flare tower so that a corroded pipe could be
repaired.
 With the flare tower still out of service, production of
carbaryl was resumed in late November, using MIC
stored in the two tanks still in service. An attempt to re-
establish pressure in tank E610 on 1 December failed, so
the 42 tons of liquid MIC contained within still could not
be pumped out of it.

7. The Pre-event Phase
 In early December 1984, most of the plant's MIC
related safety systems were malfunctioning and
many valves and lines were in poor condition. In
addition, several vent gas scrubbers had been out of
service as well as the steam boiler, intended to clean
the pipes.
 A lot of accidents happened during the operation of
the plant before the disaster. All of them gave warnings
about bad management, poor maintenance,
poor training and careless attitude about safety
regulations.

8. The Release
 During the late evening hours of 2 December 1984, water entered a
side pipe and into Tank E610 which contained 42 tons of MIC that
had been there since late October.
 This resulted in a runaway exothermic reaction, which was
accelerated by contaminants, high ambient temperatures and
various other factors, such as the presence of iron from corroding
non-stainless steel pipelines.
 About 30 metric tons of MIC escaped from the tank into
the atmosphere in 45 to 60 minutes. This would increase to 40
metric tons within two hours time. The gases were blown in a south
easterly direction over Bhopal.

9.  The cloud contained a mixture of hazardous substances.
Concentrations were higher close to the plant. These gases
were heavier than air, hence displacing oxygen.

10. The night of death
 10:53 pm: Normal pressure in tank E610.
 11 pm: Pressure had increased by a factor of five to 10 psi (34.5
to 69 kPa) which the senior refinery employees assumed to be
instrumentation malfunction.
 11:30 pm: workers in the MIC area were feeling the effects of minor
exposure to MIC gas, and began to look for a leak.
 11:45 pm: One leak found.
 12:40 am: The reaction in tank E610 reached a critical state at an
alarming speed. Temperature in the tank was 25 °C and the
pressure indicated at 40 psi (275.8 kPa).
 12:50 am: The plant's alarm system was triggered as the
concentration of gas in and around the plant became difficult to
tolerate.
 1:00 am: Residents of neighbourhood were fleeing a massive gas
leak.
 2:00 am: The MIC gas leak emanating from tank E610 petered out

11. Factors Leading to the Gas
Leak
 Storing MIC in large tanks and filling beyond recommended levels.
 Poor maintenance.
 Three safety devices which were malfunctioning, not in use,
insufficiently sized or otherwise rendered inoperable:
 A refrigeration system meant to cool tanks containing liquid MIC,
shut down in January 1982, and whose freon had been removed in
June 1984. MIC high temperature alarm, set to sound at 11 °C had
long been disconnected, and tank storage temperatures ranged
between 15 °C and 40 °C.
 A flare tower, to burn the MIC gas as it escaped, which had had a
connecting pipe removed for maintenance, and was improperly
sized to neutralise a leak of the size produced by tank E610.
 A vent gas scrubber, which had been deactivated at the time and
was in 'standby' mode, and similarly had insufficient caustic soda
and power to safely stop a leak of the magnitude produced.
 Inadequate emergency action plans.

12. State of safety features of MIC
plant at Bhopal at time of disaster

13. THE DEVASTATION
 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.
 2,000 bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed.

14. A BHOPAL NIGHTMARE

15. ANIMAL CARCASSES

16. RELIEF MEASURES
 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.
 Madhya Pradesh government's finance department
allocated Rs 874 million for victim relief in July 1985.
 Widow pension 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.
 Each claimant was to be categorized by a doctor.
 In court, the claimants were expected to prove "beyond
reasonable doubt" that death or injury in each case was
attributable to exposure.

17. Short term health effects
 The initial effects of exposure were coughing, vomiting,
severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation.
 The acute symptoms were burning in the respiratory tract
and eyes, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach
pains and vomiting.
 The causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic
circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema.
 Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in
the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of
the kidneys, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising
enteritis.
 The stillbirth rate increased by up to 300% and neonatal
mortality rate by 200%.

18. THE SCARS OF TRAGEDY

19. LONG TERM HEALTH
EFFECTS
 It is estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people have
permanent injuries.
 Reported symptoms are eye problems, respiratory
difficulties, immune and neurological disorders,
cardiac failure secondary to lung injury, female
reproductive difficulties and birth defects among
children born to affected women.
 The Indian Government and UCC deny permanent
injuries were caused by MIC or the other gases.

20. DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF THE BHOPAL GAS
TRAGEDY,1984
Pictured here in the Dwarker
Nagar neighborhood of Bhopal
is Vineeta Kumar and her
disabled son, Abhay. Abhay
was born to parents
contaminated by a carcinogenic
and mutagenic water.

21. Sunita Sahu sitting
at home with her
son, Devank, aged
8, who suffers from
severe deformities
and cerebral palsy.

22. A mother holds her
badly-deformed son in
her arms as life goes on
in a multi-family home
in central Bhopal.

23. Lessons learnt
 The decision to turn off the safety systems, turned out
to cause more destruction than it should have. If the
safety systems had been in working order, the leak
would not have been as damaging.
 Hospitals and authority in and around such a plant
must have proper knowledge about the chemicals
being used incase of any mishap.
 Bhopal has shown that sometimes corporations do not
have to pay for the crimes they commit. There is a
need for more strict rules and regulations against such
tragedy.

24. BHOPAL TRAGEDY
LINGERS
A public call to Bhopal gas tragedy
memory.
1985 sculpture by: Holocaust survivor
Ruth Waterman
Location: Remember Bhopal Museum