Bhopal Gas Tragedy: 2,000 Dead, 500,000 Exposed to Toxic Gas - Research Paper

Introduction

The Bhopal chemical disaster also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy happened in 1984 on 2nd to 3rd at the Union Carbide India Limited in Bhopal. There was a gas leak at the pesticide plant that exposed thousands of people to toxic substances that led to their deaths. An estimated 500,000 people inhaled the methyl isocyanate gas that is harmful and hazardous to human beings. The death tolls were about 2000 people who died instantly after being exposed to the gas, between 200,000 and 300,000 people were injured (Mital, 2016). Property worth millions of dollars were destroyed by the chemical residue and the contamination caused by the gas leak. The Bhopal Plant Disaster is recorded as one of the worst chemical disasters in history since its effects were dire and were felt years later.

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Fig 1: The Bhopal Plant in India

The factory was built in 1969 to produce the pesticide Sevin with the gas methyl isocyanate as an intermediate. The method employed to make the pesticide required the use of MIC. However, the drop in the demand for pesticides in 1980 led to the accumulation of unused MIC in the plants. There were earlier leaks in 1976 reported by two local unions and another in 1981 whereby a worker inhaled phosgene gas and died within 72hours (Cullinan, 2009). After the two incidents, there was an investigation on the Bhopal factory by a journalist who forewarned the people of Bhopal of an impending danger that would be caused by the chemical plant (Mital, 2016). Twenty-four workers were exposed to phosgene in January 1982; the number increased as 18 more were affected in February. The number of leaks and exposures kept increasing over the years (Cullinan, 2009). The safety systems related to MIC were dysfunctional in early December 1984, and most of the valves and lines were out of order.

Fig. 2: Mothers nursing victims of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster.

Fig 3: Children were the most affected by the disaster.

People within the proximity of the plant woke up to breathlessness, vomiting, stomach pains, and burning sensation in their eyes and respiratory tracts. Children inhaled most of the poisonous gases, and they were most affected. Thousands of animals lost their lives including domestic and the wild. Birds and fish instantly died after the exposure to the gas and so did other living creatures with the proximity of the Bhopal plant. The long-term health effects of the disaster were felt as people developed congenital disorders and children were born with deformities. Despite the impact that the gas leak had on the people of India, Bhopal specifically, the Indian Council of Medical Research held back the data on the death tolls caused by the leakage from being published until 1994 (Cullinan, 2009). The UCIL initially refused to take any legal responsibility for the gas leakage, and the accident after cases against them was taken to court. However, they later accepted moral responsibility and settled for a $470 million in compensation which is insignificant considering the amount of damage the gas leak caused.

Fig 4: Thousands dead after inhaling the poisonous gas leaked from the Bhopal plant.

Fig. 5: Death tolls rise as more people inhale the harmful gases.

The accident occurred due to poor safety measures being taken by the management of the plant. Some of the prime causes of the leakage include water being let into the MIC tank because of the omission to insert a slip plate, partial leakage of isolation valves, a remotely operation valve being left open when it should have been shut and finally a plant modification that connected the relief valve and process vent header (Bowender, 1987). The accident was caused by a lack of mitigation in terms of safety measures and as such errors that would have been avoided were ignored altogether (Cullinan, 2009). There were hardware errors, operator errors, information-related errors and system errors that was within the powers of the Bhopal plant to avoid but they were overlooked.

The leak was reported on the 2nd of December at around 11:30 pm but was dismissed by the supervisor as water leakage. According to workers at the plant, internal leaks were a common occurrence, and they never bothered them (Diamond, 1985). An experienced worker had initially been instructed to wash out a pipe marking the beginning of problems. Technical experts noted that two out of the three main safety systems were not competent enough to deal with the leakage (Diamond, 1985). Plant operators charged with the responsibility of transferring methyl isocyanate from the tank with issues to the spare tank were not able to do so since the tank already had some gas in it. Instruments used at the Bhopal plant were unreliable and thus warning signs of a gas leakage were ignored by workers at the factory. The plant unlike others around the world lacked a functional computer system to sense leakages of gases and instead relied on workers to detect escaping methyl isocyanate (Diamond, 1985). The education levels of people working at the plant had been reduced significantly putting the plant's safety in jeopardy. The staff for the methyl isocyanate plant had been cut down from twelve to six, a number that could not handle the pressures of the department. Also, the alarm system was no effective enough to warn of a disaster since the sound used was commonly heard around the plant.

The Bhopal Chemical Disaster was a wakeup call to other industries on the importance of safety measures. The accident would have been avoided if only the company put in place functional safety measures and invested in systems that would help in disaster management. The disaster would have been prevented if the company acted on small problems (Diamond, 1985). Several leaks had been reported over the years and even months and days before the disaster; if only the company had acted earlier, the disaster would have been completely evaded. The UCIL later took moral responsibility for the leakage and paid compensation, however, they should have invested more in preventive measures that would help avoid the massive deaths and destruction caused by the gas leakage. Many people lost their lives because the hospitals did not know what was going on and therefore what measures to take. The company should have put a response team on the ground to provide information to first responders and reduce the death tolls. Since the company knew it was storing harmful chemicals on site, it should have provided information on how to curb disaster in case it happened. The site location has alleviated the effects of the disaster. The factory was located close to dwelling areas, and thus it recorded a high death toll. The environmental hazard that the factory presented by being built close to residential areas was massive (Bowonder, 1987). The number of deaths would have been significantly reduced if it were located further away from residential areas. Improvement of management techniques would have prevented the disaster. Most of the equipment at the factory were of poor design and non-functional and replacing would have prevented the leakage. The Bhopal gas tragedy could have been prevented if everyone played their respective roles and safety measures were put in place.

The chemical disaster in Bhopal claimed the lives of thousands of Indians while leaving an even bigger aftermath effect. The gas leakage was caused by a variety of preventable errors. The management did not invest in preventive measures, and they overlooked warning signs leading to the tragic event. Measures such as adopting functional disaster management systems, application of preventive measures and educating first responders on how to deal with chemical accidents would have prevented the disaster. Over the years policies in industries have been developed and designed to avoid a repeat of the Bhopal disaster.

References

Bowonder, B. (1987). An analysis of the Bhopal accident. Project Appraisal, 2(3), 157-168.

Cullinan, P. (2009). Case Study of the Bhopal Incident. Environmental Toxicology And Human Health-Volume I, 81.

Mittal, A. (2016). Retrospection of Bhopal gas tragedy. Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, 98(9), 1079-1083.

Diamond, S. (1985, January 28). THE BHOPAL DISASTER: HOW IT HAPPENED [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/28/world/the-bhopal-disaster-how-it-happened.html

Taylor, A. (2014, December 2). Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster, 30 Years Later[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/