Four decades of Bhopal gas tragedy: A wound that still hasn't healed
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.
Some half a million survivors suffered respiratory problems, eye irritation or blindness, and other maladies resulting from exposure to the toxic gas; many were awarded compensation of a few hundred dollars. Investigations later established that substandard operating and safety procedures at the understaffed plant had led to the disaster. In 1998 the former factory site was turned over to the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Even after four decades, the wounds of the city have not healed. Complete disposal of the toxic waste of the UCIL plant is still pending, water in the surrounding area is contaminated, and the victims’ endless wait for justice continues.
despite several court orders, hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste are lying at the UCIL premises. According to a 2010 government study, apart from the 337 tonnes of toxic waste at the site, 1.1 million tonnes of soil is contaminated. The groundwater in the vicinity has also been found to be severely polluted. Several government and non-government studies show the presence of heavy metals and other toxic substances in the groundwater around the factory.
There are two main lines of argument involving the disaster. The "corporate negligence" point of view argues that the disaster was caused by a potent combination of under-maintained and decaying facilities, a weak attitude towards safety, and an under-trained workforce, culminating in worker actions that inadvertently enabled water to penetrate the MIC tanks in the absence of properly working safeguards.
In October 2011, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment published an article and video by two British environmental scientists, showing the current state of the plant, landfill and solar evaporation ponds and calling for renewed international efforts to provide the necessary skills to clean up the site and contaminated groundwater