#Bhopal #Gas Tragedy 1984, the Pain of 30 Years
Painful Tribute...to The Victims and their Family
The Bhopal Disaster
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was a disaster that resulted from an accident. It happened at a Union Carbidesubsidiary pesticide plant in the city of Bhopal, India. On 3 December 1984, the plant released 42 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to toxic gases. The first official immediate death toll was 2,259. A more probable figure is that 8,000 died within two weeks, and it is estimated that an additional 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
More than 40 tons of methyl isocyante (MIC) gas created a dense
cloud over a resident population of more than half a million people.
People
woke in their homes to fits of coughing, their lungs filling with fluid.
More than 8,000 people were killed in just the first few days following the
leak, mainly from cardiac and respiratory arrest.
The
chemical factory responsible for this disaster belonged to Union Carbide, which
negotiated a settlement with the Indian Government in 1989 for $470 million - a
total of only $370 to $533 per victim - a sum too small to pay for most medical
bills. In 1987, a Bhopal District Court charged Union Carbide officials,
including then CEO Warren Anderson, with culpable homicide, grievous assault
and other serious offences. In 1992, a warrant was issued for Anderson's
arrest.
But
justice has eluded the people of Bhopal for more than 20 years. Dow, since its
merger with Union Carbide, refuses to assume these liabilities in India - or
clean up the toxic poisons left behind.
More
than 20,000 people still live in the vicinity of the factory and are exposed to
toxic chemicals through groundwater and soil contamination. A whole new
generation continues to get sick, from cancer and birth defects to everyday
impacts of aches and pains, rashes, fevers, eruptions of boils, headaches,
nausea, lack of appetite, dizziness, and constant exhaustion.
The Bhopal disaster affected next generations
of victims:
The
first generation, exposed to toxic gas released this night of December 3, 1984,
and often suffering of respiratory insufficiency, facilitating secondary
infections (tuberculosis),
The second
generation, especially exposed to the pesticides given up in the factory, and
which was washed by the rains, then contaminating the ground water and thus the drinking water for all the population in the neighborhoods
of the factory.
These
affecting the people till date.
The Reasons for Disaster are:
1.From
the start, very bad choice in the method of production of the Sevin pesticide,
obliging with storage in tanks of tens of tons of very dangerous products like
the M.I.C.,
2.An
over-estimate of the sales, and thus of capacities of the tanks
3.An semi-abandonment of the
factory, left with decrepitude, and without monitoring/replacement of the
security systems:
4.Panic of the pressure pick-ups of
gases in the tanks: been unaware of,
5.Cooling system of the tanks:
nonoperational,
6.Tower of neutralization of gases
in the event of overpressure: non functionnal,
7.Turn to burn gases escaping in the
event of overpressure: nonoperational.
30 years of struggle
for justice 1984 – 2014
This year will mark
the 30th anniversary of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. The
negative consequences of the disaster have never been properly remedied and
continue to undermine human rights. The pollution has contaminated water and
soil in the area, harming the rights to health and access to clean drinking
water of people in the surrounding communities. Many persons not exposed to the
gas leak have developed health problems similar to persons who had been exposed,
including cancers and reproductive health issues among women and girls.
The
survivors of Bhopal have turned the tragedy that overwhelmed them into a lesson
in courage and love that overcomes all odds, and brings healing out of horror.
They could have accomplished little of this without the remarkable efforts of
their supporters in the UK, and around the world.
Still people are
fighting for justice. Please support them.
I can understand the
pain of victim’s families, because I was the live witness.
Painful Condolence to the
Victim of Bhopal Gas Tragedy and their Family...
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