USHA MARTIN UNIVERSITY, JHARKHAND

(Established by Jharkhand Government under Sec.2(f) of UGC Act 1956

ASSIGNMENT (ODD 2020)

MBA SEMESTER I

MBA 1004, Environmental Management

STUDENT NAME: AAKASH KUMAR
ROLL NO: 01
COURSE: MBA
SUBJECT CODE & NAME: MBA-1003,ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
SUBMITTED DATE: 10/2/2020

SUBMITTED TO(FACULTY NAME): DR. ANUPAMA VERMA

MAXIMUM MARKS: 15

SECTION A

Q1) Select any reputed organization of your preference and prepare your assignment on
following areas:
1. Brief profile of the company with its logo

2. Vision & Mission of the company

3. History of the company formation and about the founding members if any

4. Its product/service range

5. The EMS adopted by the company

6. Analyze the product on the environmental aspects and its utility for mankind.

7. Proper management of waste is important for building sustainable and livable cities, but
it remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities.

a) You have to search for the management of the end product of the company and rate
the social and environmental performance of it.

b) You have to develop an end-of-life product roadmap for the product selected by
you.
c) Will have to look into the issue with stakeholder’s perspective.

d) Plan and communicate your product end-of-life plan. (Use diagram or model if any)

e) Think of ways to coordinate plan with your marketing team.

f) How can it be executed with sales team?

g) How to involve the existing customers in this road map developed by you?

h) Consider where the freed-up resources should be reallocated.

SECTION B
Q1) Select any topic of your preference from the list below (or any other environmental
issues) and look for any incident related to it which has happened in India or abroad.
Prepare a brief case on it incorporating the backdrop of it, the incidence, the reason of its
occurrence, challenges if any. Also give details of data related with it and the source of your
information.

a. Environmental Laws Acts, Patents, IPRS, Role of NGO'S, PIL;

b. Pollution of Waste Management: Air, Water, Land Pollution, Trade in Wastes;

c. Water, Forest & Biodiversity Management:

d. Water Resources, Dams and their Role;

e. Forest Product and Trade,

f. Role of Biodiversity in International Trade;

g. Approaches to Corporate Ethics;

h. Bio- Ethics.
 TATA GROUPS
 Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate
headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Founded
in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata, the company gained
international recognition after purchasing several global
companies. It is one of the biggest and oldest industrial
groups in India. Each Tata company operates
independently under the guidance and supervision of its
own board of directors and shareholders.
 Significant Tata affiliates include Tata Chemicals, Tata
Communications, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata
Consumer Products, Tata Elxsi, Tata Motors, Tata
Power, Tata Steel, Jamshedpur FC, Tanishq, Voltas,
Tata Cliq, Tata Projects Limited, Tata Capital, Titan,
Trent, Indian Hotels Company Limited, TajAir, Vistara,
Cromā and Tata Starbucks.

History
1868–1904
At the age of 29, Jamsetji Tata worked in his father's
company. In 1870 with Rs.21,000 capital, he founded a
trading company. Further he bought a bankrupt oil mill at
Chinchpokli and converted it into a cotton mill, under the
name Alexandra Mill which he sold for a profit after 2 years.
In 1874, he set up another cotton mill at Nagpur named
Empress Mill. He dreamed of achieving 4 goals, setting up an
iron and steel company, a unique hotel, a world-class
learning institution and a hydro-electric plant. During his
lifetime, in 1903, the Taj Mahal Hotel at Colaba waterfront
was opened making it the first hotel with electricity in India.
1904–1938
After Jamsetji's death, his older son Dorabji Tata became the
chairman in 1904. Sir Dorabji established the Tata Iron and
Steel company (TISCO), now known as Tata Steel in 1907.
Marking the group's global ambitions, Tata Limited opened
its first overseas office in London. Following the founder's
goals, Western India's first hydro plant was brought to life,
giving birth to Tata Power. Yet another dream, Indian
Institute of Science was established with the first batch
admitted in 1911.
1938–1991
J. R. D. Tata was made chairman of the Tata Group in 1938.
Under his chairmanship, the assets of the Tata Group grew
from US$101 million to over US$5 billion. Starting with 14
enterprises, upon his departure half a century later in 1988,
Tata Sons had grown to a conglomerate of 95 enterprises.
These enterprises consisted of ventures that the company
had either started or in which they held controlling interest.
New sectors such as chemicals, technology, cosmetics,
marketing, engineering, and manufacturing, tea, and software
services earned them recognition.
In 1952, JRD founded an airline, known as Tata Air Services
(later renamed Tata Airlines). In 1953, the Government of
India passed the Air Corporations Act and purchased a
majority stake in the carrier from Tata Sons, though JRD
Tata would continue as chairman till 1977.
In 1945, Tata Motors was founded, first focused on
locomotives. In 1954, it entered the commercial vehicle
market after forming a joint venture with Daimler-Benz. In
1968, Tata Consultancy Services was founded.
1991–present
In 1991, Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Group. This
was also the year of economic liberalization in India, opening
up the market to foreign competitors.During this time, Tata
Group began to acquire a number of companies, including
Tetley (2000), Corus Group (2007), and Jaguar and Land
Rover (2008). In 2017, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was
appointed chairman.
VISION & MISSION

 MISSION

“At the Tata Group, our purpose is to improve the quality

of life of the communities we serve. We do this through
leadership in sectors of national economic significance,
to which the Group brings a unique set of capabilities.”

 VISION
“The Tata name is a unique asset representing
LEADERSHIP WITH TRUST. Leveraging this asset to unify
our companies is the route to longterm success and
delivery of returns to the shareholder in excess of the
cost of capital.”
ITS PRODUCT AND SERVICE RANGE
 Environment Management Systems
(EMS)

 All of Tata Steel’s manufacturing sites and raw

material locations in India have implemented
environmental management systems certified to ISO
14001. The Raw Material Division has a formal
Quality, Environment and Occupational Health and
Safety (QEHSM) management system. Reviews and
audits are conducted at fixed intervals to achieve
continual improvement. In case of a breach in
environmental norms, the incident is investigated to
establish the root cause and implement corrective
actions to ensure it is not repeated.

Employee participation
 Employees at several sites have established very active
energy and environment committees – such as ‘Clean,
Green and Safe’ in Singapore, ‘Green Team’ in Canada,
the ‘YmGreen’ initiative in the Netherlands and the
‘Greenfection’ campaign in India. The Company’s
technical staff and engineers are trained to identify
 energy-saving opportunities in drive trains (drive
controls, motors, couplings and prime movers), which
have resulted in significant savings in energy.
 In India, an environmental performance report is
regularly sent to statutory bodies. This includes monthly
reports to State Pollution Control Boards and half yearly
reports to the Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) by operating sites in India and quarterly reports
by the Raw Materials Division to the Director General,
Mine Safety. Real time environment data of the Steel
Works is displayed at its main entrance.

 Some of the significant issues dealt with by the Indian

operations during the year are as below:
a) The higher emissions at Sinter Plant No. 3 were reduced
by commissioning Best Available Technology – Coromax ESP –
in January 2012, in compliance with statutory limits.
b) In order to improve LD Slag disposal practices, the
Company has initiated actions at Bagunhatu as prescribed by
experts.
On the matter of spillage of fuel oil into the river Tees in the
north-east England in September 2008, Tata Steel was fined
£8,000. While delivering the verdict, the regulating
authorities noted Tata Steel's prompt and effective response
to the original incident, a high level of cooperation between
Tata Steel and the Environment Agency and the Company's
good record in the UK.
  SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is a ‘cap and
trade’ scheme covering all large electricity generators and
industrial emitters of greenhouse gases (mainly CO2 ) within
EU Members States. This sets a ceiling on the total amount
of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that can be emitted in a
multiyear phase.
- In 2013, the ETS will move into its third phase
(20132020) and the supply of emissions allowances will be
further tightened and set on a trajectory to -21% by 2020
compared to 1990 emission levels. Electricity generators will
have to pay for all their allowances through an auctioning
process but because the steel industry is classified as being at
risk of ‘carbon leakage’, the sector should continue to receive
a free allocation, although it will now be based on a CO2
/tonne benchmark of the top 10% best performing sites
multiplied by the average output in recent years.
- The above proposals are being discussed with various
stakeholders. Tata Steel continues to make efforts to look for
solutions that will help reduce its carbon footprint in the
future
➢ Extending environment management across the
supply chain
The environmental impact of the movement of goods and
products, though not captured due to a large global vendor
base, is mitigated by complying with procedures laid down
under the ISO 14001 standards for vendor registration and
contractors. This is being done to reduce air pollution and
vehicular emissions at operating sites.
➢ Adoption of green and clean technologies, best
operating practices and process upgradation….
Appropriate measures for environment protection are taken
by adopting BAT (Best Available Technology) and designing
pollution control infrastructure to achieve discharge and
emissions within statutory limits. An Environment Impact
Assessment is undertaken prior to the implementation of
capital projects and appropriate environment management
programmes are implemented with the project .
Tata Steel adopts best practices to prevent, or otherwise
minimise, mitigate and remediate, harmful effects of mining
operations. Some of the environment friendly technologies
adopted in Financial Year 2011-12 include installation of a
tailing de-watering plant for the first time in India to nullify
the requirement of a tailing pond and the use of a pipe
conveyor to reduce dust generation at the Jamshedpur
Works.
➢ Tata Steel has always adopted a proactive approach to the
conservation of the environment. The Company’s actions are guided by
the Tata Code of Conduct, Tata Climate Change Policy, Tata Steel’s
Vision and Environmental policy.

 Resource conservation
Integrated steelmaking requires large amounts of raw materials
such as iron ore and coal. To ensure optimal use of resources,
the Company's policy of reduce, reuse and recycle has been
embedded in its processes. Efforts to improve performances
have resulted in considerable reduction in the use of energy
and natural resources.
  The main raw material used across all three locations in Tata
Steel Thailand is ferrous scrap, which is fully recyclable. At
NatSteel, scrap metal generated within the plant is mostly
recycled internally. In 2011-12, the percentage of recycled input
materials accounted for 2.36% of the total billet production at
NatSteel
➢ Research and development of innovative technologies and
processes for Ore and Coal Beneficiation

Raw material cost is critical to the sustainability of steel

manufacturers. Raw materials used for steel making are
not renewable. Therefore, R&D and operations seek to
enhance yield and maximise utilisation of raw material.
Innovative application of Jigs to beneficiate iron ore to
control Alumina, processes to reduce slime generation,
research to produce clean coal at optimal yield and plant
rejects to produce concentrates are targeted to achieve
this objective.
➢ Process optimisation, waste management through reduce, reuse
and recycle

• Advanced techniques are used to extract iron and

carbon, by reusing most of the residual materials
through sinter plants, steelmaking and coke ovens,
replacing primary raw materials and reducing overall
CO2 emissions.
• The most significant by-product of steel making, in terms
of quantity, is blast furnace slag. It is used as a substitute
for clinker in the cement industry.
 Steelmaking slag is used for civil engineering purposes
and agricultural applications by TSE. Tar and benzole
derived from the coke-making processes are used by
chemicals industry.
• EAF slag, a byproduct of NatSteel’s operations, is further
processed by a third party for use as road surfacing
material. In Financial Year 2011-12, EAF slag accounted
for approximately 14.53% of the crude steel produced.
• Relatively large volumes of water are used by all steel
manufacturing units, mostly for non-contact cooling and
is primarily reused. Tata Steel India reported an 18%
decrease in specific water consumption over a ten year
span from 7.1 m3/tcs in Financial Year 2002-03 to 5.8
m3/ tcs in Financial Year 2011-12.
• In Europe, the Company is developing a tool that will
provide a more accurate measure of fresh water
consumed per tonne of steel produced to target
additional water efficiency schemes
• All industrial cooling water processes at NatSteel use
NEWater, a high-grade reclaimed water produced from
treated, used water that is purified further using
advanced membrane technologies. At NatSteel, 100% of
the water is recycled and reused a few times before
eventual discharge into the public sewage system
 Time to End-of-Life Your Product
Phase 1: When is it time to end-of-life a product?
1. How is the product performing right now?
2. Figure out how well the product has been selling over the recent
past, and then step back and do a broader assessment to see the sales
curve for the product over a longer timeframe.
3. If you chart this out and find a consistent downward curve for the
product’s new customer acquisitions, seat licenses, maintenance
agreements, or other revenue metrics that matter to your company,
you might be right that it’s time to think about end-of-life.
4. Here’s something else you’ll want to add to the equation: To what
degree is the product “in-flight” with your sales team? In other
words, how many units of your product are listed on current sales
invoices? And how many would your reps say they’re in the process
of closing?
5. This should be factored into your decision because perhaps what
you’re seeing is not a product whose useful life has ended, but
simply one that’s been in a slump and could see a surge in revenue
in the near-term.

2.How many development resources does the product consume?

Now that you have some idea of how the product is performing in terms of
revenue generation and new customer acquisition, it’s time to start
measuring this against what it’s actually costing your organization to
maintain the product.

First, you should investigate how many development hours your teams are
devoting to this product. That goes for updates, patches, bug fixes, testing,
and general maintenance. And then…
3. How much effort from support does the product require

Next, you should do a similar investigation into how much the product in
question is costing your company. Consider things like customer support
time and resources.

It stands to reason that if your product is nearing end-of-life, it’s likely to

have amassed more baggage than your newer solutions. That means the
product might be responsible for a higher proportion of customer
complaints and requests for help.

4. Calculate the value of the resources you could unlock by

redeploying these resources onto more profitable products.

Now that you have some broad data about your product’s dollar inflows
and outflows, you can begin to think about resource reallocation. By
retiring the product, you can redirect resources onto more profitable
initiatives.

Remember, this is part art, part science. But if your intuition is telling you
it’s time to end-of-life a product, these exercises above can help you infuse
data into your decision.

5. Pro tip: Develop an end-of-life product roadmap

You can build a roadmap specifically to strategically think through and

map out your plan for taking your product through the end-of-life process.

If you have the right roadmapping app, you can use it not only to create a
specific plan for your end-of-life product but also to help you determine
whether or not retiring the product is the right move in the first place.

That’s because this app will allow you to plug in all of the factors we’ve
been discussing, and apply a weighted score to each one. This can help
give you the full picture of how your end-of-life decision could benefit
your organization (freed-up resources) or create risks (unhappy
customers), and how much each of those factors should weigh on your
decision.
 Phase 2: Get approval for your end-of-life plan.

Retiring a product is not product management’s call alone. This is an

important strategic decision that could affect many other departments.
Therefore it should involve other members of your organization,
particularly your executive staff.

And now that you’ve done the work of building a case based on
evidence—and not just your gut—you can take your data-supported
proposal to end-of-life your product to your executive stakeholders.

By the way, by developing an end-of-life product roadmap and using a

roadmap app that includes weighted-scoring capability, you’ll see some
benefits when it comes to presentation. You can make your case much
more effectively to executive stakeholders if you can bring up a clean,
visual summary of your proposal and your strategic thinking behind it.

Discuss the issue with stakeholders.

• Retiring a product is not product management’s call alone. This

is an important strategic decision that could affect many other
departments. Therefore it should involve other members of your
organization, particularly your executive staff.
• And now that you’ve done the work of building a case based on
evidence—and not just your gut—you can take your
datasupported proposal to end-of-life your product to your
executive stakeholders.
• By the way, by developing an end-of-life product roadmap and
using a roadmap app that includes weighted-scoring capability,
you’ll see some benefits when it comes to presentation. You can
make your case much more effectively to executive stakeholders
if you can bring up a clean, visual summary of your proposal and
your strategic thinking behind it.
Phase 3: Plan and communicate your end-of-life plan.

7. Work with your sales team.

So you’ve persuaded your executive team to give you the go-ahead
with your plan to end-of-life your product. Now you’ll need to discuss
the issue with your sales team.

You’ll want to discuss how this will affect their sales presentations
and help them find alternatives to steer prospects toward in the future

8. Tell your existing customers.

Communicating with customers about a product phase-out is one of the most

important steps in the end-of-life process. And, it’s a step many organizations
get wrong. You want to give your customers plenty of warning. Don’t make
them feel like the tool they’re using is being suddenly ripped out from under
them.

You’ll also want to have alternative solutions to suggest to these users. Perhaps a
swap or perhaps a newer and more robust alternative you’ve since developed.

Depending on the size of your organization and your user-base, it may make
sense to establish formalized policies for end-of-life products. These can help
set expectations for customers. Cisco, for example, went so far as to create an
end of product lifecycle policy.

9. Coordinate with your marketing team

You should also sit down with your marketing team and review marketing
materials and messages. You want to see where the product you’re about to end-
of-life appears, and how you can update those materials with other, more
relevant solutions
10. Consider where the freed-up resources should be reallocated.

Now that you have a sunsetting plan, you can start preparing to redeploy the
resources and budget you will free up. Perhaps it may be a good time to cull
technical debt by allocating some development cycles to refactoring efforts.

Sunsetting or retiring a product can be difficult. Perhaps even emotional, if

you’re the product manager who brought it to market in the first place. But this
is the cycle of life. The good news is if you handle the end-of-life process
strategically, you’ll find you have extra capacity to make newer products more
successful.
 THE BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak
incident in India, considered the world's worst industrial disaster. It occurred
on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL)
pescide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were exposed
to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals. The toxic substance made
its way in and around the shanty towns located near the plant. Esmates vary on
the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259.

Union Carbide India Limited

(UCIL)
• UCIL was a chemical company in Bhopal which was established in 1934.
• UCIL was owned 51% by Union Carbide Corporation and 41% by Indian
investors including the Indian government.
• In 1984, the annual sale was about $200 million.
• At the time of accident, it employed 9,000 people at 14 plants in 5
divisions.
• It produced products including Batteries, Carbon products, Welding
equipments, plastics, industrial chemicals, pesticides and marine
products.

THE “DISASTER”
• In December 2nd - 3rd, 1984 a UCIL plant began leaking 27 tons of
methyl isocynate.
• The gas leak was considered one of the world’s worst industrial
catastrophes.
• The leak resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people.
The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of
Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas
release. Others estimate 3,000 died within weeks and another 8,000
have since died from gas-related diseases. A government affidavit in
2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary
partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling
injuries. As many as 25,000 deaths have been attributed to the disaster
in recent
• A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries
including 38,478 temporary paral injuries and approximately 3,900
severely and permanently disabling injuries. The cause of the disaster
remains under debate. The Indian government and local acvists argue
slack management and deferred maintenance created a situaon where
roune pipe maintenance caused a backflow of water into a MIC tank
triggering the disaster. Union Carbide Corporaon (UCC) contends water
entered the tank through an act of sabotage.
 Overview of events that led to the Bhopal disaster

Contributing Factors to the “DISASTER”

• Storing MIC in large tanks and filling beyond recommended levels
• Maintenance of facilities ignored
• Safety systems shut off to save $
• Plant located near densely populated area
• Lack of skilled operators • Inadequate emergency action plan •
Failure to recognise previous plant issues
• Use of a more dangerous pesticide manufacturing method for
decreasing generation cost
• Reduction of safety management
• Insufficient maintenance – A pipe leaked? Don't replace it – MIC
workers needed more training? They could do with less – The MIC
tank alarms had not worked for four years
• The flare tower and the vent gas scrubber had been out of service
for five months before the disaster
• To reduce energy costs, the refrigeration system was idle
• The MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius, not the 4.5 degrees
advised by the manual
• The steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes, was out of action for
unknown reasons
• Carbon steel valves were used at the factory, even though they
corrode when exposed to acid.
• According to the operators, the MIC tank pressure gauge had been
malfunctioning for roughly a week.

ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION
• When the factory was closed in 1985–1986, pipes, drums and
tanks were sold. The MIC and the Sevin plants are still there, as
are storages of different residues. Isolation material is falling
down and spreading.
• The area around the plant was used as a dumping area for
hazardous chemicals.
• Tubewells in the vicinity of the UCC factory had to be
abandoned. UCC's laboratory tests in 1989 revealed that soil
and water samples collected from near the factory and inside
the plant were toxic to fish.
• In order to provide safe drinking water to the population
around the UCC factory, there is a scheme for improvement of
water supply.
• In December 2008, the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided
that the toxic waste should be incinerated at Ankleshwar in
Gujarat.
• 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

ECONOMIC REHABILITATION
• Immediate relief was decided two days after the tragedy.
• Relief measures commenced in 1985 when food was
distributed for a short period and ration cards were
distributed.
• Madhya Pradesh government's finance department allocated
Rs 874 million for victim relief in July 1985.
• Widow pension of Rs 200/per month (later Rs 750) was
provided.
• One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 1,500 to families with
monthly income Rs 500 or less was decided.
• Each claimant was to be categorized by a doctor.
• In court, the claimants were expected to prove "beyond
reasonable doubt" that death or injury in each case was
attributable to exposure.
• From 1990 interim relief of Rs 200 was paid to everyone in the
family who was born before the disaster.
• The final compensation (including interim relief) for personal
injury was for the majority Rs 25,000 (US$ 830). For death
claim, the average sum paid out was Rs 62,000 (US$ 2,058).
• Effects of interim relief were more children sent to school,
more money spent on treatment and food, and housing
improvements.
• In 2007, 1,029,517 cases were registered and decided. Number
of awarded cases were 574,304 and number of rejected cases
455,213. Total compensation awarded was Rs.1,546.47 crores.
• On 24 June 2010, the Union Cabinet of the Government of
India approved a Rs1265cr aid package. It will be funded by
Indian taxpayers through the government

EFFECT ON HUMAN HEALTH

 The inial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritaon and a
feeling of suffocaon, burning in the respiratory tract, blepharospasm,
breathlessness, stomach pains and voming.
 People awakened by these symptoms fled away from the plant. Those
who ran inhaled more than those who had a vehicle to ride. Owing to
their height, children and other people of shorter stature inhaled higher
concentraons. Thousands of people had died by the following morning.
 Primary causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic circulatory collapse
and pulmonary oedema. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not
only in the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of the
kidneys, fay degeneraon of the liver and necrozing enteris.
 The sllbirth rate increased by up to 300% and neonatal mortality rate by
around 200% In the immediate aermath, the plant was closed to
outsiders (including UCC) by the Indian government.
 The inial invesgaon was conducted enrely by the Council of Scienfic and
Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Central Bureau of Invesgaon. Union
Carbide organized a team of internaonal medical experts, as well as
supplies and equipment, to work with the local Bhopal medical
community, and the UCC technical team began assessing the cause of
the gas leak. The health care system immediately became overloaded.
 Medical staffs were unprepared for the thousands of casuales. Doctors
and hospitals were not aware of proper treatment methods for MIC gas
inhalaon.

Long-term health effects

 Some data about the health effects are sll not available. A total of 36
wards were marked by the authories as being "gas affected," affecng a
 populaon of 520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of age, and
3,000 were pregnant women. The official immediate death toll was
2,259, and in 1991, 3,928 deaths had been officially cerfied.
 The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths
related to the gas release. Later, the affected area was expanded to
include 700,000 cizens.
 A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries
including 38,478 temporary paral injuries and approximately 3,900
severely and permanently disabling injuries.
 A number of clinical studies are performed. The quality varies, but the
different reports support each others. Studied and reported long term
health effects are: Eyes: Chronic conjuncvis, scars on cornea, corneal
opacies, early cataracts Respiratory tracts: Obstrucve and/or restricve
disease, pulmonary fibrosis, aggravaon of TB and chronic bronchis
Neurological system: Impairment of memory, finer motor skills,
numbness etc.
 Psychological problems: Post traumac stress disorder (PTSD) Children's
health: Peri- and neonatal death rates increased. Failure to grow,
intellectual impairment etc. Missing or insufficient fields for research are
female reproducon, chromosomal aberraons, cancer, immune
deficiency, neurological sequelae, post traumac stress disorder (PTSD)
and children born aer the disaster.
 Late cases that might never be highlighted are respiratory insufficiency,
cardiac insufficiency (cor pulmonale), cancer and tuberculosis.
This Article is written by Shreya Tripathi of Banasthali Vidyapith,
Jaipur. Here, she discussed Bhopal Gas Tragedy with Development of
Environmental Law along with the concept of Absolute Liability.

Background of the Case

Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a deadly disaster which took place in
Bhopal, India leaving behind thousands dead and thousands other
maimed for life. This is considered as one of the most horrific and
lethal industrial disasters.
On a 1984 winter night, the lethal Methyl isocyanate Gas (MIC)
which leaked from the Union Carbide factory making it the worst
industrial disaster which the world has ever seen. In the 1970s, the
Indian government was encouraging foreign investment in local
industries and for the same Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) was
asked to build a plant in Bhopal for the manufacture of Sevin, which
is a pesticide used commonly throughout Asia. The Government of
India itself had a 22% stake in the company’s subsidiary Union
Carbide India Ltd. (UCIL).

Due to its central location and transport infrastructure Bhopal was

chosen for the establishment of the plant. Bhopal was the area zoned
for light industrial use and not the heavy and hazardous ones. This
plant was initially approved for just formulation of pesticides but due
to the increasing competition, it started manufacturing other
products under the same facility which involved more hazardous
processes.

On Dec 2, 1984, a small leak of MIC gas was noticed. On the

morning of 3rd Dec 1984, a plume of MIC gas was there in the air
leading to deaths of thousands of people. According to an estimate,
3,800 people died immediately, out of which most were in poor slums
adjacent to the plant. Estimated number of deaths in the first few
days was more than 10,000 and reported 15,000 – 20,000 premature
deaths in the next 2 decades. After the incident, UCC tried to deny
being responsible for the incident by shifting the matter towards
UCIL (Union Carbide India Ltd) by trying to make the point that
the plant was fully built and operated by the Indian subsidiary that is
UCIL.

In March 1985, the government enacted the Bhopal Gas Leak

Disaster Act to ensure the dealing of claims arising after the incident
speedily and equitably. This made the government as the only
representative of the victims in the legal processes in and outside the
country.

The settlement was made by Supreme Court of India with UCC in

which UCC agreed to take the moral responsibility and paid a claim
of $470 million to the government which was negligible compared to
a multi-billion dollar lawsuit which was filed by an American lawyer
in a U.S court. This amount of $470 million was based on the
disputed claim that only 3,000 people died and 1,02,000 suffered
permanent disabilities. According to Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and
Rehabilitation Department, by the end of October 2003,
compensation was awarded to 5,54,895 people for injuries received
and 15,310 survivors of those killed.

After this settlement, the matter was placed entirely under Indian
jurisdiction. The government was blamed for not having appropriate
laws for environmental safety and for settlement of claims through
the establishment of liability. If this kind of proper laws would have
prevailed then the victims of the incident would have got better
compensation and it would have been difficult for UCC to get off the
matter.

As after the breathtaking tragedy, the Indian government passed and

implemented The Environment Protection Act (E.P.A) of 1986
under Article 253 of the Indian constitution. Its purpose was to
implement the decisions of the UN Conference on the Human
Environment of 1972 to provide protection to an improvement of
environment and prevention of hazards for humans, plants, other
living creatures. This act strengthens the regulations on pollution
control and environment protection by hazardous industries.

The act provides the Centre with a lot of power to take all necessary
actions required for the protection of the environment. It enables the
executive wing to issue notifications and orders which becomes
guidelines for the administrative agencies. Basically, it provides the
Centre with the power to make rules for environment protection.
The act has 7 schedules specifically laying down the rules for
emission or discharge of pollutants from industries, prescribing
emission of smoke, etc. from vehicles, provides a list of authorities to
be approached in case of any discharge outside the prescribed levels
and standards.
Under the provision of Section 25 of EPA, 1986 another set of rules
was passed “Hazardous Waste(Management and Handling) Rules,
1989”. It includes the management of 18 categories of waste basically
all toxic chemicals which could be stored in industries and used for
different purposes. Some categories of waste which are included in
this are-metal finishing waste, waste containing water-soluble
compounds of lead, copper, zinc, etc. It issues the notification that
the one generating this type of wastes or the one operating the
facility which generates this type of wastes is responsible for the
proper management and handling of the waste.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 1994 includes

almost all kinds of activities which could harm the environment in
any way. Through this notification, an impact assessment of any
project became mandatory. The Central Government is required to
carry out an environmental impact assessment on a large scale before
passing any project listed under the notification. It also established a
“Right to Know”, that is, public hearing through which the common
man who would get affected by the project is given the chance to
speak out and is made aware of the project. Basically, a lot of
transparency was included in the system for the validation of any
developmental project.
The journey begins of legal principle cannot be easily understood
through a case study of a very landmark case M.C. Mehta vs. Union
of India.

The principle of “Absolute Liability” was established by Supreme

Court after one more gas leak (though not a major one like Bhopal
Gas Tragedy) in Shriram Fertilizer Factory in New Delhi on 4th
Dec 1985, where the oleum gas was leaked from the bursting of the
tank containing oleum gas which was caused by human and
mechanical errors and not by any third party. This concept is of
utmost importance today.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy was an incident which opened the eyes of the
legislature and made their attention available to the environment
and its protection. Even before this tragedy, laws such as Water Act
of 1974 and Air Act of 1981 existed but EPA provides an umbrella to
the Central Government for the coordination of various state and
central authorities established under these previous laws. Therefore
it would not be wrong to state that had the proper legislative
framework would have existed then either this tragedy would not
have occurred or the sufferings of the people could have been made
less. The CEO of the accused UCC has died and the lawsuit against
him has been shut down forever. Lack of proper and sufficient laws
resulted in the loss of life of thousands of people and leaving behind
many to suffer and live in pain of the after-effects of the tragedy.

Principle of Strict Liability

This principle was to develop from a well-known case of Ryland vs.
Fletcher (1868 LR 3 HL 330). This case was decided by Lord
Chancellor, Lord Cranworth and Lord Cairns.

Ryland was the plaintiff and Fletcher was the defendant in the case.
Plaintiff was the occupier of the mine and defendant owes a mill in
neighbour to the mine and they propose to make a reservoir to store
water for the purpose to use in a mill and another adjacent land near
to it. Defendant took the help of agents to construct the reservoir
while making it.

They did not take reasonable care and precaution and due to the
heavy weight of water, the shaft broke and the water passed into the
mine of the plaintiff which cause damage to the plaintiff. While
giving the final decision Lord Cairns distinguished between the
natural and non-natural use of land.

Under Ryland case, the court declares it’s as Principle of “Strict

Liability” rule. The Supreme Court got the chance to make this
principle when a petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of
India emerged into the form of PIL (Public Interest Litigation).

A very famous case of M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India was filed in the
Court of law as a PIL for the incident which took place on 4th
December to 6th December 1985, where Oleum gas was leaked from
one of the Units of Shriram Food and Fertilizers in the area of Delhi
and become famous by the name of Oleum Gas Leakage Case.
During this accident, one of the advocates of Tis Hazari Court died
and many others were also affected by it at a large number.

So, an environmental activist Mr M.C. Mehta approached Supreme

Court of India and filed a PIL, so the court may take action on the
matter and decide the liability and responsibility of the person for the
incident.

During that period, the court was going across the most activist
stage and denied to follow the ruling of Ryland vs. Fletcher case.
Justice Bhagwati said that he cannot afford to evolve any type of
guidance and any standard liability under constitutional norms. Law
has been made to satisfy the needs of the rapid changing society and
keep aside the development of the economy of the country.

All the industries which are set up in the residential locality and
engaged in a hazardous toxic chemical which will affect the health
and safety of the people of locality owe an absolute responsibility for
the community to ensure them no harm or damage will be caused to
them. The industries are under obligation to use the highest
standard amount of equipment and machines to avoid damages to a
large number of the population residing nearby. They should use a
filter to avoid pollution.
Certain guidelines are given under Environmental law which needs
to be followed by every industry which is engaged with the toxic and
hazardous substances to avoid pollution. If they do not follow the
guideline then their licence will be cancelled by the inspection team.

So, now we can easily distinguish between both the principles of

Strict liability and Absolute Liability Strict liability is applicable to
all the things which exist in a place but for absolute liability, things
causing harm or damages and it must be in relation to Hazardous
and toxic substance. So, on this note, the court has narrowed down
the principle of strict liability.

But the more exciting and happening part of it is that the liability of
the defendant become absolute in every manner. No matter what the
damages will be caused due to the negligence on the part of the
defendant, no matter how the hazardous item escaped, what the
reason is but the consequences are to be faced by defendant only,
once it is proved by the plaintiff side that the damage was caused by
the defendant through hazardous item, no excuse will be applicable
to it except the case of Act of God. Court laid down that measure
will be taken to finalize the amount of compensation should be
within the capacity of the enterprise.
The rule laid down under this case was approved by Court in Charan
Lal Sahu Vs. Union of India, AIR 1990 SC 1480 where the court held
that defendant has absolute liability for the act he cannot escape by
saying that he took all the reasonable care on behalf of his part.

Yet in another case of Indian Council for Environmental Legal

Action vs. Union of India AIR 1996 SC 1446 the court held that
“Once the event is carried related to hazardous substance then is
liable to take all the loss caused to another person irrespective of
taking reasonable care while carrying out the activity.
 Conclusion
• After this act, the principle of absolute liability is given more
emphasis and the Indian Judicial system took an affirmative
step by adopting this principle. Bhopal Gas Tragedy was an
event whose effect can still be seen in many newborn children
who were born with abnormalities and it was very important to
give direction to all the industries established near the
residential area to take all the precaution and not to play with
the precious lives of people.
• The Bhopal Disaster has gone down in history as one of the
world’s worst Industrial accident to ever occur. Thousands of
people lost their lives, countless others injured, and the
environment contaminated due numerous bad decisions among
those who owned the plant.
• There are several other Industries till now working only for
their profit, leaving the safety of people in it and around it in
waters.
• The government should take necessary steps to control these
industries so that no other disaster occurs.