The Bhopal Gas Tragedy

 2nd December 1984: The Bhopal gas tragedy took place. 

The "very strong, foul odour" was that of the deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other poisonous substances that had leaked from the American firm Union Carbide's pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, killing around 3,800 people, according to government estimates. Other estimates have put the death toll at a minimum of 8,000 within two weeks of the disaster, and an equal number in to follow. Besides the thousands who died, more than 5 lakh people were affected by the gas leak. 

On that cold December night, terrified residents tried to run away from the site but thousands were dead by the morning hours. Mass funerals and cremations were carried out, and bodies dumped into the Narmada river. The New York Times reported on December 3, 1984 ; "witnesses said thousands of people had been taken to hospitals gasping for breath, many frothing at the mouth, their eyes inflamed. The streets were littered with the corpses of dogs, cats, water buffalo, cows and birds... Doctors from neighbouring towns and the Indian Army were rushed to the city...where hospitals were said to be overflowing with the injured. Most of the victims were children and old people who were overwhelmed by the gas and suffocated...

" According to witnesses, a "densely populated area of about 15 square miles was turned into 'one vast gas chamber'" The Guardian reported. A survivor, Champa Devi Shukla, recalled the nightmare (reported in Bhopal org. a website linked to the charity Bhopal Medical Appeal): "It felt like somebody had filled our bodies up with red chillies, our eyes had tears coming out, noses were watering, we had froth in our mouths. The coughing was so bad that people were writhing in pain. Some people just got up and ran in whatever they were wearing and even if they were wearing nothing at all ... People were only concerned as to how they would save their lives so they just ran." 

Two weeks after the disaster, the remaining MIC was removed from two tanks at the plant. It is believed that the gas has leaked after a large quantity of water got into a MIC tank, causing a reaction that forced the pressure release valve to open. While Union Carbide ( later owned by Dow Chemicals) claims that it was a result of a "Sabotage" by an employee and that the company's safety systems were in place, many campaigners of Bhopal gas victims and green activists point to defect in the safety systems. 

According to Bhopal org: "Regular maintenance had fallen into such disrepair that on the night of December 2 ...when an employee was flushing a corroded pipe, multiple stopcocks failed and allowed water to flow freely into the largest tank of MIC. Exposure to this water soon led to an uncontrolled reaction; the tank was blown out of its concrete sarcophagus and spewed a deadly cloud of MIC, hydrogen cyanide, mono methylamine and other chemicals that hugged the ground. Blown by the prevailing winds, this could settle over much of Bhopal ".

 On December 7, 1984, Warren Anderson the CEO of Union Carbide, was arrested in Bhopal but later released on bail. In December 1987, the Central Bureau Of Investigation filed a charge sheet against Anderson other accused. Anderson was charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code including section 304 (Culpable homicide). In 2003, the ministry of external affairs sent a request to the United States for Anderson's extradition. However, this and further requests were turned down. 

Though Union Carbide agreed to pay $470 million in compensation in 1989, after a settlement with the Indian government, activists say that given the number of people affected this was very inadequate. It comes out to be " a total of only $370 to $533 per victim - a sum of too small to pay for most medical bills", according to environmental group Greenpeace.

 

Contamination of the site and lack of disposal of toxic waste continued to be a serious concern. "Hundreds of tons of waste still languish inside a tin-roofed warehouse in a corner of the old grounds of the Union Carbide pesticide factory here, nearly a quarter-century after poison gas the leak killed thousands and turned this ancient city into a notorious symbol of Industrial disaster", The New York Times reported in July 2008. 

Indeed, despite a Rs 1265.56 crore package announced by the Indian government for the Bhopal gas victims in June 2010, for many survivors of the tragedy and residents of Bhopal, justice has been exclusive.