ENVIRONMENTAL POLLTION

BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

THEORY

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

The Bhopal gas tragedy was the greatest industrial disaster in the world that took place at a Union
Carbide pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. At midnight on 3 December 1984,
the plant accidentally released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to MIC
and other chemicals. The first official immediate death toll was 2,259. The government of Madhya
Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Others estimate 8,000-10,000
died within 72 hours and 25,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
Some 3,500 people died immediately when a storage tank of the plant run by US group Union Carbide -bought by Dow Chemicals in 1999 -- spewed the poison gas over the populated slums of Bhopal in
central India. The total death toll from pollution and its side effects had climbed to more than 15,000 by
2007, according to government figures, but Indian rights activists say the real figure is double that.
Some 26 years after the gas leak, 390 tonnes of toxic chemicals abandoned at the Union Carbide plant
continue to pollute the ground water in the region and affects thousands residents of Bhopal who
depend on it. There are currently civil and criminal cases related to the disaster ongoing in the United
States District Court, Manhattan and the District Court of Bhopal, India against Union Carbide, now
owned by Dow Chemical Company, with arrest warrants pending against Warren Anderson, CEO of
Union Carbide at the time of the disaster.
The Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL) factory was established in 1969 near Bhopal. 51% was owned by
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and 49% by Indian authorities. It produced the pesticide carbaryl
(trademark Sevin). In 1979 a methyl isocyanate (MIC) production plant was added to the site. MIC, an
intermediate in carbaryl manufacture, was used instead of less hazardous but more expensive materials.
During the night of December 23, 1984, large amounts of water entered tank 610, containing 42 tonnes
of methyl isocyanate. The resulting reaction increased the temperature inside the tank, raising the
pressure to a level the tank was not designed to withstand. This forced the emergency venting of
pressure from the MIC holding tank, releasing a large volume of toxic gases. A mixture of poisonous
gases flooded the city of Bhopal, causing great panic as people woke up with a burning sensation in their
lungs. Thousands died immediately from the effects of the gas and many were trampled in the panic.
The gas cloud composed stayed close to the ground and spread outwards through the surrounding
community. The initial effects of exposure were coughing, vomiting, severe eye irritation and a feeling of
suffocation. People awakened by these symptoms fled away from the plant. Thousands of people had
succumbed by the morning hours. There were mass funerals and mass cremations as well as disposal of
bodies in the Narmada river. 170,000 people were treated at hospitals and temporary dispensaries.
2,000 buffalo, goats, and other animals were collected and buried. Within a few days, leaves on trees
yellowed and fell off. Supplies, including food, became scarce owing to suppliers' safety fears.
The catastrophe raised some serious ethical issues. The pesticide factory was built in the midst of
densely populated settlements. UCIL chose to store and produce MIC, one of the most deadly chemicals
(permitted exposure levels in USA and Britain are 0.02 parts per million), in an area where nearly
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ENVIRONMENTAL POLLTION

BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

THEORY

120,000 people lived. The MIC plant was not designed to handle a runaway reaction. When the
uncontrolled reaction started, MIC was flowing through the scrubber (meant to neutralize MIC
emissions) at more than 200 times its designed capacity.
MIC in the tank was filled to 87% of its capacity while the maximum permissible was 50%. MIC was not
stored at zero degree centigrade as prescribed and the refrigeration and cooling systems had been shut
down five months before the disaster, as part of UCC's global economy drive. Vital gauges and indicators
in the MIC tank were defective. The flare tower meant to burn off MIC emissions was under repair at the
time of the disaster and the scrubber contained no caustic soda.
As part of UCC's drive to cut costs, the work force in the Bhopal factory was brought down by half from
1980 to 1984. This had serious consequences on safety and maintenance. The size of the work crew for
the MIC plant was cut in half from twelve to six workers. The maintenance supervisor position had been
eliminated and there was no maintenance supervisor. The period of safety-training to workers in the
MIC plant was brought down from 6 months to 15 days.
A total of 36 wards were marked by the authorities as being "gas affected", affecting a population of
520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of age, and 3,000 were pregnant women. In 1991,
3,928 deaths had been certified. Independent organizations recorded 8,000 dead in the first days. Other
estimations vary between 10,000 and 30,000. Another 100,000 to 200,000 people are estimated to have
permanent injuries of different degrees.

Environmental pollution around factory

A year after the gas leak, the local authorities collected 350 tonnes of waste and left it in the factory
yard, ignoring all safe waste management practices. In the past two decades, several studies have
concluded that the material containing toxins and heavy metals has leeched into the ground,
contaminating groundwater --- the only source of drinking water for 20,000 people nearby. A 2004 high
court order requiring the state government to clean up the waste has resulted in only partial clearance.

CSE study post tragedy

A study by Indian non-profit organisation the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) last year showed
groundwater three kilometres (two miles) from the plant contained 110 times the maximum quantity of
the pesticide carbaryl deemed safe in Indian bottled water. "The factory site in Bhopal is leading to
chronic toxicity -- continuous tiny exposure leading to poisoning," said the director of the CSE, Sunita
Narain.
The local government in Madhya Pradesh, of which Bhopal is the capital, acknowledges the waste is still
there. 25 years after the worlds worst chemical disaster in India left thousands dead and lakhs affected,
Old Bhopal wonders whether the water it drinks is still toxic or not. Releasing findings of a study done
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BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

THEORY

November 2009, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said that water inside the 80-acre site of
Union Carbide, and in a radius of up to three kilometres outside, contains pesticide far higher than the
acceptable limit for human beings.
CSE director Sunita Narain said there was evidence that the chemicals from Union Carbide leak on the
night of December 3, 1984 continue to poison the people through the water they drink. While piped
water is being supplied in most areas, people are heavily dependent on borewells too.

Poisonous chemical waste

Another dimension of the ongoing tragedy of Bhopal is the poisonous chemical waste lying around in
the abandoned premises of the pesticide plant. Several committees have inspected it and found 44,000
kgs of tarry residues and 25,000 kgs of alpha naphthol lying in the open since 1984. Various studies have
established that the soil, ground water, vegetables and even breast milk have traces of toxic chemicals.
Earlier research conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI),
Pollution Control Board, City Environmental Laboratory (Boston) and environmental NGO Greenpeace
also found extremely high levels of toxins like carbaryl, lindane and alpha napthol in the soil and water
around the factory areas.