BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

1. BHOPAL GAS
TRAGEDY
2nd December 1984

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. After the Leakage
• Local medical staff was unprepared to deal with such issues.
• They didn’t knew how to deal with chemicals.
• Families of those who died, were slow to receive minimal
compensation or never did.
• Those who were injured received no or limited medical care.
• The gases immediately caused visible damage to the trees.
Within a few days, all the leaves fell off.
• 2,000 bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed of.
• Complaints of a lack of information or misinformation were
widespread. The Bhopal plant medical doctor did not have
proper information about the properties of the gases. An
Indian Government spokesman said that "Carbide is more
interested in getting information from us than in helping our
relief work."
• Formal statements were issued that air, water, vegetation
and foodstuffs were safe within the city. At the same
time, people were informed that poultry was unaffected, but
were warned not to consume fish

6. The “MAIN PROBLEM”
• Thousands of victims had/have not
received medical care, information, or
compensation due to fighting among
UCC management and Indian
Government over the cause of the
accident and who was at fault.
• Furthermore, the environment
surrounding Bhopal has continued
contaminated issues.

7. HEALTH EFFECTS
• A total of 36 wards were marked by the authorities as
being "gas affected", affecting a population of
520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of
age, and 3,000 were pregnant women. In 1991, 3,928
deaths had been certified. Independent organizations
recorded 8,000 dead in the first days. Other
estimations vary between 10,000 and 30,000. Another
100,000 to 200,000 people are estimated to have
permanent injuries of different degrees.
• The acute symptoms were burning in the respiratory
tract and
eyes, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains
and vomiting.
• The 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, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising
enteritis. The stillbirth rate increased by up to 300%

8. SUPPORT Of Indian Government
To The Culprits
• Indian government closed plant to outsiders and failed
in making the data public
• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) were forbidden to publish their data on health
effects until after 1994.
• The Indian Government and UCC deny permanent
injuries were caused by MIC.
• UCIL paid a token of $470 million even though asked a
total compensation of $3.3 billion. But the government
said nothing.
• The government sent safely Mr. Anders on the CEO of
UCIL at the time of massacre, to US.
• Civil and criminal cases are still pending in United
States District Court, Manhattan and the District
Court of Bhopal, India, involving UCC, UCIL

9. SOLUTIONS
• Don’t place BLAME
• Create task force
• Reach out to international community
• Hire PR firm
• Let ethics guide all the decisions

10. CONCLUSIONS
• 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.