What was done about the bhopal disaster

For decades, survivors have been fighting to have the site cleaned up, but they say the efforts were slowed when Michigan-based Dow Chemical took over Union Carbide in Human-rights groups say that thousands of tons of hazardous waste remain buried underground, and the government has conceded the area is contaminated. There has, however, been no long-term epidemiological research that conclusively proves that birth defects are directly related to the drinking of the contaminated water.

Trees frame a rusting building at the abandoned former Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, on November 11, On the night of December 2, , the factory, owned by the U. In December , the entrance to the U. Two men carry children blinded by the Union Carbide chemical-gas leak to a hospital in Bhopal on December 5, Thousands of animals perished in the disaster as well, poisoned by the huge gas leak.

This photo was taken on December 4, A photo from December 4, , shows relatives surrounding victims of the Bhopal tragedy. A victim of the Bhopal tragedy walks in the streets on December 4, In the background is the site of the factory. This photograph taken on December 17, , shows bodies of victims lined up following a poison-gas leak that killed thousands from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal.

Water is hosed onto canvas screens set up around the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal on December 18, , as part of measures taken to avoid further leakage of fumes that had earlier caused a huge number of deaths and injuries.

A December photo shows victims who lost sight after a poison-gas leak from a pesticide plant in Bhopal in front of the U. The company still operates under the ownership of Dow Chemicals and still states on its website that the Bhopal disaster was "cause by deliberate sabotage". Some positive changes were seen following the Bhopal disaster. The British chemical company, ICI, whose Indian subsidiary manufactured pesticides, increased attention to health, safety and environmental issues following the events of December However, they still do not adhere to standards as strict as their parent company in the UK.

In its early negotiations with the Indian government, DuPont had sought and won a remarkable clause in its investment agreement that absolved it from all liabilities in case of an accident. But the people of Goa were not willing to acquiesce while an important ecological site was cleared for a heavy polluting industry. After nearly a decade of protesting by Goa's residents, DuPont was forced to scuttle plans there.

Chennai was the next proposed site for the plastics plant. The state government there made significantly greater demand on DuPont for concessions on public health and environmental protection. Eventually, these plans were also aborted due to what the company called "financial concerns". The tragedy of Bhopal continues to be a warning sign at once ignored and heeded. Bhopal and its aftermath were a warning that the path to industrialization, for developing countries in general and India in particular, is fraught with human, environmental and economic perils.

Some moves by the Indian government, including the formation of the MoEF, have served to offer some protection of the public's health from the harmful practices of local and multinational heavy industry and grassroots organizations that have also played a part in opposing rampant development.

The Indian economy is growing at a tremendous rate but at significant cost in environmental health and public safety as large and small companies throughout the subcontinent continue to pollute. Far more remains to be done for public health in the context of industrialization to show that the lessons of the countless thousands dead in Bhopal have truly been heeded. Fortun K: Advocacy after Bhopal. Chapter Google Scholar. Shrivastava P: Managing Industrial Crisis.

Google Scholar. Shrivastava P: Bhopal: Anatomy of a Crisis. Hazardous Installations Directorate. MacKenzie D: Fresh evidence on Bhopal disaster. New Scientist. Article Google Scholar. Cassells J: Sovereign immunity: Law in an unequal world.

Social and legal studies. Arch Environ Health. Kumar S: Victims of gas leak in Bhopal seek redress on compensation.

The export of hazards: trans-national corporations and environmental control issues. Edited by: Ives J. Mangla B: Long-term effects of methyl isocyanate. Varma DR: Hydrogen cyanide and Bhopal. Anderson N: Long-term effects of mthyl isocyanate.

Chander J: Water contamination: a legacy of the union carbide disaster in Bhopal, India. Int J Occup Environ Health. Soc Sci Med. Carlsten C: The Bhopal disaster: prevention should have priority now. Bertazzi PA: Future prevention and handling of environmental accidents. Scand J Work Environ Health. Dhara VR: What ails the Bhopal disaster investigations?

And is there a cure? EIA: India: environmental issues. Edited by: energy D. CIA: The world factbook: India. J Environ Monit. Environ Monit Assess.

Karliner J: The corporate planet. Power M: The poison stream: letter from Kerala. Union Carbide: Bhopal Information Center. Beckett WS: Persistent respiratory effects in survivors of the Bhopal disaster. Misra UK, Kalita J: A study of cognitive functions in methyl-iso-cyanate victims one year after bhopal accident.

CAS Google Scholar. Various surveys and assessment reports had been warned about the safety culture. But the management had a dead response to them and postponed the major upgrades to the refinery. Shipping containers holding gunpowder at the Evangelos Florakis naval base on Cyprus exploded.

This accident appeared to be the result of "criminal negligence". Hube Globe chemical plant explosion released highly toxic eight tones of hydrofluoric acid. The leak 8 killed five workers at the plant and severely injured 18 people.

Geismar La Williams Olefins chemical plant fire and explosion 9 killed 2 workers and were injured. They released more than 31, pounds of toxic volatile organic carbon material chemicals which includes propylene, ethylene, propane and benzene. Accident due to a rupture in the heat exchanger caused a vapor cloud which was ignited by an unknown source, causing the explosion.

Danlin chemical plant explosion at Oklahoma due to heating up pressurized containers are the major disasters 10 due to human negligence and poor safety standards. Thus safety rule breakers are always an accident maker. The Elk River chemical spill has happened in U. Industries should invest more on risk minimization to make accidents costlier.

If accidents are costly then its chances of occurring will be lesser. In fact, there should be safety documents for the view of public so that public will check often on regulatory bodies.

This will also educate public and help in bridging the gap between the risk perceived and actual risk. Once Industries follow the safety disciplines, it will automatically pave their way to tangible and intangible benefits. Risk documentation has been done by US experts for Bhopal plant warned about the chance of accident. But the management ignored the safety recommendations 3 and the emergency procedures were never implemented which led to the Gas leakage.

Various acts and rules were passed after the Bhopal disaster in all the countries. Several lessons can be learnt by analyzing this accident. Occurrence of this accident triggers the importance of safety management measures and also elucidates a minor change can leads to major consequences.

The safety study committee, safety review committee and industrial safety division were appointed and created to identify major hazards and to study and review the requirement or availability of protection system and safety plant. Industrial safety regulations were revised.

Industrial plant safety division advises generic industrial safety issues, recommends measures on industrial safety for prevention of accidents and providing guidance on the overall planning for prevention and protection.

They also conduct review of the safety documents being developed on industrial safety. Industrial and fire safety review is created. They prepared a checklist for safety audit and carry out detailed study and assessment of the safety programme. The audit is required to be carried out by persons focusing on specific requirement, depending on the hazard potential of plant operation. Occupational health and safety review and Advisory committee on occupational health are created to advice on occupational health aspects Occupational Safety Manual BHEL.

Fatal accident assessment committee to assess fatal accidents and to arrive at the root causes of accident and preventive actions to be taken to avoid recurrence.

Safety professional meetings are conducted to hold workshop at the individual units to discuss statutory requirements and their implications and to conduct a seminar on industrial safety. Safety awards for the industries are provided by the ministry of labor and employment for industrial safety excellence. The safety performance assessment based on computed value of safety numbers, preventive efforts and hazards as per a pre-defined computational methodology.

Safety color codes 14 are introduced to identifying the physical hazards and expediting fire fighting operation and other emergency services. Consider the fire prevention fighting Red , machineries causing injuries Orange , general caution Yellow , first aid and personal protective equipments, e. Poor design of the gas scrubber, flare tower, water curtain and along with poor maintenance standards leads to this major disaster.

For an overview of those studies, please see "Environmental Studies of the Bhopal Plant Site" on this website. Did the gas leak contaminate the groundwater and soil outside the plant? Indian government authorities have publicly and repeatedly confirmed that no contamination of soil or groundwater outside the plant walls resulted from the MIC gas leak. Did the day-to-day operations of the plant contaminate the groundwater or soil outside the plant?

A report issued by the India's National Environmental Engineering Research Institute NEERI in found soil contamination within the factory premises at three major areas that had been used as chemical disposal and treatment areas. However, the study found no evidence of groundwater contamination outside the plant and concluded that local water-wells were not affected by plant disposal activities. If groundwater outside the plant is now contaminated after this length of time, it cannot under any circumstances be the responsibility of UCC.

Specific questions regarding these issues are best directed to organizations that have conducted environmental studies and the Madhya Pradesh State Government. What remediation work has been performed at the site? In , the MPSG, which owns and had been leasing the property to EIIL, cancelled the lease; took over the facility; and assumed all accountability for the site, including the completion of any additional remediation.

The media reported that a trial incineration of some waste from the Bhopal plant site was conducted in August UCC did not own or operate the site. If the court responsible for directing clean-up efforts ultimately applies the "polluter pays" principle to a corporation, it would seem that legal responsibility would fall to UCIL now called EIIL , which leased the land, operated the site and was a separate, publicly traded Indian company when the Bhopal tragedy occurred.

EIIL remains a viable company today. In , the U.