Lessons from the Bhopal tragedy – Hindustan Times

At around 12:40 a.m. on December 3, 1984, nearly 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate, a poisonous gas, began leaking from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant near Bhopal. Within an hour, toxic fumes enveloped Bhopal in a dome of death, suffocating thousands of people. Official figures showed that 5,295 died, although activists later estimated that at least 15,000 lives were lost, while many more suffered morbidities from exposure to the harmful gas. Investigations found that the company had compromised security measures. Although the State was not prepared to face a disaster of this scale, what followed was even more shocking. Five years later, the Center settled with UCIL and its parent company, the US-based Union Carbide (UCC), for a paltry $470 million, based on a gross underestimation of the number of victims (3,000 deaths was the initial estimate). and repair costs (105,000 compensation claims).

The settlement was made without trust in the victims and the amount agreed upon was minuscule considering the original claim was $3.3 billion. Seven Indian and UCC employees were found guilty of the disaster and convicted in 2010; none of the condemned was imprisoned even for a day; His appeals against the conviction are still pending in court. Warren Anderson, then president of the UCC, was arrested when he arrived in India after the disaster, but was allowed to return to the United States. No officials faced action for gross negligence that allowed the disaster to occur, or for shoddy relief work. UCC was purchased by Dow Chemical Company in 2001. With issues of adequate compensation, rehabilitation and restoration of the site lost in the legal maze, demands for justice continue.

Meanwhile, survivors of the disaster continued their fight in court and the number of compensation claims soared to half a million. Survivors suffer from countless ailments, including respiratory problems. The promised treatment facilities have not yet been installed and the contaminated factory facilities have not yet been fully cleaned. Recent industrial accidents, such as the one in Visakhapatnam in August 2024, in which 17 people died, show that urgent lessons need to be learned from the Bhopal gas disaster that continues to haunt its victims. This lack of closure and relief for thousands of people, four decades after that terrible night, is the true tragedy.