CASE STUDY- BHOPAL GAS

TRAGEDY

DONE BY: ALI MOHAMMAD ASIF

AMITY INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH STUDIES AND RESEARCH (2020-2023)
SECTION: B
FORM NO. : 8390622
SUPERVISED BY : DR. SMRITI SHUKLA
 INDEX

• INTRODUCTION
• HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
• THE ACCIDENT WAS AVOIDABLE
• EFFECTS OF THE BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY ON THE PEOPLE OF BHOPAL
• PEOPLE ARE STILL AFFECTED BY IT
• AFTERMATH
• CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION

• EVEN AFTER 36 YEARS OF THE BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY WE ARE STILL NOT SURE ABOUT THE
DEATH TOLL.
• THIS ACCIDENT TOOK PLACE DURING THE INTERVENING NIGHTS OF DECEMBER 2 ND AND
3RD OF 1984.
• 40 TONS OF METHYL ISOCYANATE LEAKED FROM A PESTICIDE PRODUCING PLANT,
MANAGED BY AN AMERICAN COMPANY, UNION CARBIDE.
• THE MASSACRE WAS TOTALLY PREVENTABLE BUT NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR THE
GOVERNMENT TOOK NECESSARY ACTIONS TO CONTROL THE DANGER.
• RESULTING IN THE DEATHS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND 5 LAKH PEOPLE GETTING
EXPOSED TO THE GAS.
 HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

• THERE ARE MANY VERSIONS ON HOW THIS ACCOUNT TOOK PLACE.

• BUT THERE WAS ON WHICH WAS WIDELY BELIEVED. THE INVESTIGATORS BELIEVED
THAT THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED WHEN WATER REACTED WITH METHYL ISOCYANATE
LIQUID OF THE E610 TANK OF THE FACTORY.
• THIS PRODUCED A VERY POISONOUS GAS FROM THE REACTION AND THE GAS WAS
LEAKED IN THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS IS WHERE THE FIRST LAPSE HAPPENED AS WATER
WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO GET MIXED THIS LIQUID.
• A METAL PLATE IS PRESENT IN THE PIPES TO SEPARATE WATER AND THAT CHEMICAL
BUT THE FACTORY LACKED THE METAL PLATE WHICH RESULTED INTO THE MIXING OF
THE TWO COMPONENTS.
 THE ACCIDENT WAS AVOIDABLE

1. PRESSURE GAUGE – IN A FACTORY, THERE IS A PRESSURE GAUGE WHICH TELLS US THE PRESSURE
INSIDE THE GAS STORAGE. BUT IN THIS CASE, EVEN THE PRESSURE GAUGES WERE NOT WORKING
PROPERLY, AS A RESULT THE FACTORY WORKERS COULD NOT KNOW ABOUT THE LEAK FOR A VERY
LONG TIME.
2. FLARE TOWER – A FLARE TOWER IS PRESENT TO BURN THE POISONOUS GAS BEFORE IT LEAKS IN
THE ENVIRONMENT, BUT IN THIS CASE THE FLARE TOWER WAS NOT PROPERLY FUNCTIONING,
RESULTING IN THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF POISONOUS GAS IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
3. WATER CANNONS – ONE OF THE MAJOR STEPS WAS TO USE WATER ON THE LEAKING GAS. HAD THE
FACTORY WORKERS SPRAYED WATER ON THE LEAK, LESS DAMAGE CONTROL WOULD BE EXPECTED.
IN FACT, WHEN THE FACTORY WORKERS CAME TO KNOW ABOUT THIS, THEY DID TRY TO CONTAIN
THE DAMAGE BUT SHOCKINGLY THE WATER CANNONS WEREN’T LONG ENOUGH TO REACH THE
SPOT OF THE LEAK WHICH LED TO A HAVOC IN THE END.
FLARE TOWER
A FLARE TOWER IS USED OR A FLARE STACK IS
A DEVICE USED IN PETROLEUM REFINERIES
AND INDUSTRIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF
BURNING FLAMMABLE GASES PRODUCED
FROM THE PLANTS.
PRESSURE GAUGE
PRESSURE GAUGES ARE INSTRUMENTS
DESIGNED TO MEASURE THE PRESSURE OF
MEDIA IN A SYSTEM. MEASURING THE
PRESSURE IN YOUR SYSTEM IS A CRITICAL
QUALITY STEP TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY OF A
PRODUCT AND SAFETY CHECK TO BE AWARE
OF LEAKS OR BUILDING PRESSURE IN A
SYSTEM
 EFFECTS OF THE BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY ON THE
PEOPLE OF BHOPAL

• ABOUT 42 TONNES OF MINIMUM INHIBITORY CONCENTRATION (MIC) WAS LEAKED INTO THE
AIR HARMING MORE THAN 5 LAKH PEOPLE. MIC IS THE IS THE LOWEST CONCENTRATION OF A
SPECIFIC CHEMICAL THAT INHIBITS THE GROWTH OF A SPECIFIC MICROORGANISM. THIS TERM
TYPICALLY APPLIES TO CHEMICALS CALLED ANTIBIOTICS, DRUGS THAT KILL BACTERIA, AND
THUS MICROORGANISMS CALLED BACTERIA.
• CHOKING WAS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF DEATH DUE TO THE GAS LEAK. MADHYA PRADESH
GOVERNMENT CLAIMED THAT 3,787 PEOPLE HAD DIED BUT THE ACTIVISTS CLAIM THE
FIGURES TO BE AROUND 8,000 TO 10,000.
• BHOPAL WAS STRUCK BY TWO TRAGEDIES: THE ONE THAT HAPPENED IMMEDIATELY, AND THE
OTHER THAT UNFOLDED IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED.
• FIRST, SOME HALF A MILLION SURVIVORS SUFFERED RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS, EYE
IRRITATION OR BLINDNESS, AND OTHER MALADIES RESULTING FROM EXPOSURE TO THE
TOXIC GAS. SECONDLY, CHILDREN BORN AFTER THE DISASTER ARE ALSO ITS VICTIMS
BECAUSE OF EXPOSURE TO THE DEADLY GAS WHILE THEY WERE IN THEIR MOTHERS’ WOMBS
 PEOPLE ARE STILL AFFECTED
BY IT

FOR 15 YEARS TILL THE DISASTER, UNION

CARBIDE FACTORY DUMPED PROCESS WASTES, BY-
PRODUCTS, SOLVENTS, SUB-STANDARD PRODUCTS,
WASTES FROM MACHINERY AND POLLUTED WATER
AT DUMP SITES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE PLANT.
ANOTHER 350 TONNES OF WASTE HAS BEEN KEPT
IN A LEAKING SHED AT THE SITE. THESE WASTES
ARE STILL LYING AT THE SITE, POLLUTING SOIL
AND GROUNDWATER WHICH NOW THREATENS
EVEN A LARGER NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAN THE
FIRST ONE. MANY OF THE CHEMICALS DEGRADE
SLOWLY AND ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN IN THE
ENVIRONMENT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. THEY
WILL KEEP SPREADING UNLESS THEY ARE TAKEN
OUT AND THE SITE IS DECONTAMINATED.
AFTERMATH

• THE COMPANY UNION CARBIDE TREATED THE PEOPLE OF BHOPAL AS THEIR LIVES WERE
WORTHLESS.
• WARREN ANDERSON, THE CEO OF THE COMPANY AT THE TIME OF THE LEAK WAS IN INDIA.
INITIALLY, HE WAS ARRESTED BUT WAS GRANTED BAIL. HE FLED THE COUNTRY AND OUR
GOVERNMENT COULDN'T GET HIM BACK.
• THE AMERICAN COMPANY PAID THE SETTLEMENT OF JUST $470 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE
TRAGEDY. THIS AMOUNT WAS NOT SUFFICIENT AS EACH OF THE VICTIMS ONLY RECEIVED 25,000
INDIAN RUPEES AFTER THE ACCIDENT.
• 25 YEARS LATER, IN 2010, 7 EMPLOYEES OF THE INDIAN ARM OF THIS COMPANY WERE CONVICTED
ON THE CHARGE OF DEATH BY NEGLIGENCE. SENTENCED TO ONLY 2 YEARS IN PRISON, THESE
CONVICTS WERE RELEASED ON BAIL SOME TIME AFTER.
• STILL EVEN AFTER 36 YEARS THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT YET CLEARED THE SITE OF HAZARDOUS
CHEMICALS. EVEN NOW, HUNDREDS OF TONNES OF THESE POISONOUS CHEMICALS ARE LYING
AROUND CONTAMINATING THE AIR AND WATER OF BHOPAL.
CONCLUSION

• 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. IF THE PROVISIONS RELATING TO
HAZARDOUS PROCESSES WOULD BE PRESENT AT THE TIME OF ACCIDENT
AND OTHER SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE PROVISIONS WOULD BE
FOLLOWED, WE WOULD NEVER HAD TO FACE SUCH INDUSTRIAL DISASTER.
THANK YOU