The Bhopal Gas Tragedy was the worst industrial accident in history. In 1984, toxic gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, exposing over 500,000 people. The gas release was caused by failures of safety systems at the plant, including non-functioning scrubbers, flare towers, and refrigeration units for the gas storage tanks. Over 3,000 people died immediately and thousands more in the following years due to prolonged effects from exposure to the poisonous methyl isocyanate gas.

1. PREPARED BY:-
JARU DIPAK(12ME070)
ANIYALIYA DHARMESH(12ME089)

3.  Introduction:-
The Bhopal Gas tragedy is the worst air pollution
episode ever witnessed in India. It happened in Bhopal
on December 3, 1984.
It was a catastrophe that had no parallel in the world’s
industrial history.

4.  The Union Carbide factory is located in Bhopal, a town in
Madhya Pradesh. The fateful incident happened due to the
leakage of lethal gas called methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas
from three storage tanks of Union Carbide factory, a
Multinational Corporation. MIC is an intermediate used in
the manufacture of pesticides.

5.  1. The plant has two main safety devices:
Scrubber, which neutralize the gas with caustic soda and Flare
tower, where the gas can be burnt off.
Both the safety devices failed to operate on that particular day.
 2. The refrigeration units for the storage tanks containing MIC
gas were out of order for several months.

6.  3. The water jet had failed to reach at the top of the 120 ft
stack from which MIC gas was gushing out.
 4. The poisonous gas was stored in the tanks for more than
two months, violating the safety rules.
 5. The factory turned on the public siren about an hour after
the gas started releasing into the atmosphere.
 6. The plant was located in densely populated area of old
Bhopal.

7.  The gases were blown in a southeasterly direction over
Bhopal.
 The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe
eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in
the respiratory tract, blepharospasm, breathlessness,
stomach pains and vomiting.

8.  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.
 Later, the affected area was expanded to include
700,000 citizens.

10.  The use of hazardous chemicals (MIC) instead of less
dangerous ones.
 Possible corroding material in pipelines.
 Failure of several safety systems (due to poor
maintenance and regulations).
 Plant design modifications by Indian engineers to abide
by government regulations and economic pressures to
reduce expenses.