On the night of December 2, 1984, chemical, methyl isocyanate (MIC) spilt out from Union Carbide India Ltd’s (UCIL’s) pesticide factory turned the city of Bhopal into a colossal gas chamber. It was India’s first major industrial disaster. At least 30 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas killed more than 15,000 people and affected over 600,000 workers. Bhopal gas tragedy is known as world’s worst industrial disaster. Bhopal is known for its historical records, artificial lakes and greenery but most of all, the city is remembered across the globe for the worst industrial mishap of the world.

Post-midnight on December 3, 1984, poisonous gas that leaked from the factory of Union Carbide in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal killed thousands of people directly. The incident is now known as the Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy.
As per official records, the Bhopal gas tragedy killed 3,787 people. The figures were updated by the Madhya Pradesh government later as the immediate official estimate had put the death toll due to gas leak from Union Carbide factory at 2,259.
However, activists fighting for justice for Bhopal gas tragedy victims put the figures of death between 8,000 and 10,000. In an affidavit, submitted in 2006, the government said that the Bhopal gas leak caused 5,58,125 injuries that included approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.

WHAT CAUSED MIC LEAKAGE?
The leakage of gas was reported from Plant Number C. As per official record, methyl isocyanate got mixed with water used for cooling the plant. The mixture led to generation of volumes of gases, which put tremendous pressure on Tank Number 610.
The tank cover gave way to building gaseous pressure releasing tonnes of the poisonous gas, which diffused over large area. Approximately 5 lakh people were exposed to the leakage of methyl isocyanate gas.

POST-LEAKAGE SCENE
Bhopal had a population of about 8.5 lakh back in 1984 and more than half of its population was coughing, complaining of itching in eyes, skin and facing breathing problems. The gas caused internal hemorrhage, pneumonia and death. The villages and slums in the neighbouring areas of the factory were the worst affected.
The alarm system of the Union Carbide did not work for hours. No alarm was raised by the factory managers. Suddenly thousands of people started running to hospitals on the morning of December 3 with their complaints.
Unlike today, Bhopal of 1984 did not have too many hospitals. Two government hospitals could not have accommodated half of the population of the city. People were suffering, finding it difficult to breathe and confused. So were doctors, who did not immediately know the reasons for the sudden illness that afflicted every new rushing patient.
Patients complained of dizziness, breathlessness, skin irritation and rashes, some others reported sudden blindness. Doctors of Bhopal had never faced a situation like this. They had no experience in dealing with industrial disaster.
Symptoms of methyl isocyanate exposure were not immediately known to them. And, the two hospitals reportedly treated around 50,000 patients in first two days of the Bhopal gas leak. Officially, the government declared that the gas leakage was contained in eight hours, but the city has is still finding it difficult to come out of its grip even 33 years later.

The tragedy is still considered to be the world’s worst industrial disaster. To prevent such events from occurring in the future, the government should thoroughly check and regulate such industries. They should be placed under constant surveillance and the activities of such industries should be monitored at least once in every six months. Any kind of repair in any of the machines or equipments should be immediately attended to. The government should take it upon itself to make sure that everything is functioning properly.

Apart from this, the government should also make sure that there is a proper mechanism for compensation to the victims. It should ensure speedy justice and should make sure that proper relief is given to the victims.

In the event of such a large scale disaster as Bhopal, the questions like who is right and who is wrong and who was negligent and who was not become totally irrelevant in the plight of thousands of people who get affected in one single night.

It is totally unjustifiable to leave even a single victim without providing relief. Hopefully, such incidents should never occur again, and even if they do, we should not forget the lessons from Bhopal and we should make sure that any law capping the limit on the liability of such large magnitude disasters should be declared as unconstitutional.

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