Bhopal Gas Tragedy: 40 years on, victims still seek justice and accountability
This year marks 40 years since the catastrophic Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
The disaster occurred on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, when a leakage of a highly poisonous gas, methyl isocyanate, also known as MIC, took place at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The factory manufactured pesticide Sevin using the poisonous gas. On December 2, a safety valve failure in a storage tank released a massive quantity of the gas into the air.
The leak was triggered by a combination of poor maintenance, equipment failure, and safety violations at the understaffed plant. Water leaked into the gas storage tank, causing a runaway chemical reaction that led to the release of the gas into the atmosphere.
The impact was devastating. The gas drifted over the densely populated regions around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately. Official reports estimate that 5,295 people died immediately due to the gas exposure, but non-government organisations claim the actual death toll could be as high as 22,917.
In addition to the immediate deaths, over 5.7 lakh people were severely affected by the leak, suffering from respiratory, neurological, and other life-threatening conditions. The gas leak also had a long-term impact on the environment and the health of the people of Bhopal.
Driven by the wind, the lethal gas quickly spread, engulfing nearby residential areas in Bhopal. Thousands of people were jolted awake, struggling to breathe as they choked and gasped for air.
Even after four decades, the victims continue to seek justice and compensation for the irreversible damage caused by the gas leak. Pollution from Union Carbide’s toxic waste has contaminated the groundwater, affecting the water supply in over 42 settlements, and contributing to birth defects and cancer.
The ecological fallout of the gas leak was equally dire. The toxic MIC gas permeated the soil, water, and air, inflicting lasting harm on the environment. Pollution of nearby lakes and rivers led to significant ecological loss.
Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, 337 metric tonne of hazardous waste remains in a shed of the now defunct Union Carbide despite Rs 126 crore being given to the Madhya Pradesh government by the Centre for disposal, social activists claim.
Another 1.1 million tonne of contaminated soil is lying in and around the plant, due to which water sources have also been affected, said ND Jayaprakash, co-convener of Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsha Sahayog Samiti and an intervener in a writ petition connected to the tragedy.
In the aftermath of the disaster, numerous lawsuits and settlements ensued, yet many victims’ families felt justice eluded them. In 1989, Union Carbide paid $470 million to the Indian government, a sum widely deemed insufficient. Two decades later, in 2010, seven former Union Carbide employees were convicted of negligence, receiving two-year prison sentences. However, Warren Anderson, the CEO at the time of the tragedy, escaped trial and passed away in 2014, leaving many to feel that accountability remained elusive.
On September 11 this year, the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while hearing a writ petition filed in 2004, had expressed displeasure over delay in starting the work of clearing the hazardous waste from the factory. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy is a stark reminder of the importance of corporate accountability and the need for strict safety regulations in industries that handle hazardous materials. We hope that the victims of the tragedy will finally get the justice they deserve.
