Bhopal gas tragedy

Powerpoint presentation on the world's worst industrial disaster i.e, Bhopal Disaster or Bhopal Gas Tragedy by Study Scan.

1. INTRODUCTION The UCIL factory was built in 1969 to produce the pesticide using   methyl isocyanate (MIC)   as an intermediate. An MIC production plant was added to the UCIL site in 1979.  After the Bhopal plant was built, other manufacturers produced carbaryl without MIC, though at a greater  manufacturing cost . In the early 1980s, the demand for pesticides had fallen, but production continued regardless, leading to an accumulation of stores of unused MIC where that method was used.

2. EARLIER LEAKS In 1976, two local trade unions complained of pollution within the plant.  In 1981, a worker was accidentally splashed with   phosgene  as he was carrying out a maintenance job of the plant's pipes. In January 1982, a phosgene leak exposed 24 workers, all of whom were admitted to a hospital. During 1983 and 1984, there were leaks of MIC, chlorine, monomethylamine, phosgene, and  carbon tetrachloride , sometimes in combination.

3. LIQUID MIC STORAGE The Bhopal UCIL facility housed three underground 68,000-litre liquid MIC storage tanks: E610, E611, and E619. UCC safety regulations specified that no one tank should be filled more than 50% (here, 30 tons) with liquid MIC. In late October 1984, tank E610 lost the ability to effectively contain most of its nitrogen gas pressure. At the time of this failure, tank E610 contained 42 tons of liquid MIC.  An attempt to re-establish pressure in tank E610 on 1 December failed, so the 42 tons of liquid MIC contained within still could not be pumped out of it.

4. THE RELEASE By early December 1984, most of the plant's MIC related safety systems were malfunctioning and many valves and lines were in poor condition. During the late evening hours of 2 December 1984, water was believed to have entered a side pipe and into Tank E610 , which contained 42 tons of MIC that had been there since late October.  The pressure in tank E610, although initially nominal at 2 psi at 10:30 p.m., it had reached 10 psi by 11 p.m. By 11:30 p.m., workers in the MIC area were feeling the effects of minor exposure to MIC gas, and began to look for a leak.

5. ACUTE EFFECTS The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. Thousands of people had died by the following morning. Primary causes of deaths were choking , reflexogenic circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema . The stillbirth rate increased by up to 300% and neonatal mortality rate by around 200%.

6. DEATHS & INJURIES Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas. The number of children exposed to the gases was at least 200,000. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259. Others estimate that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas-related diseases. A government affidavit in 2006 stated that the leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.

7. IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH In the immediate aftermath, the plant was closed to outsiders (including UCC) by the Indian Government. The initial investigation was conducted entirely by the CSIR and the CBI. The health care system immediately became overloaded. Doctors and hospitals were not aware of proper treatment methods for MIC gas inhalation. Within a few days, trees in the vicinity became barren and bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed of.

8. SUBSEQUENT LEGAL ACTION Legal proceedings involving UCC, the United States and Indian governments, local Bhopal authorities, and the disaster victims started immediately after the catastrophe. The Indian Government passed the Bhopal Gas Leak Act in March 1985. On 17 April 1985, Federal District court judge John F. Keenan suggested that 'fundamental human decency' required Union Carbide to provide between $5 million and $10 million to immediately help the injured“. In March 1986, UCC proposed a settlement figure of $350 million. The Government of India refused the offer from Union Carbide and claimed US$3.3 billion. Eventually, in an out-of-court settlement reached in February 1989, Union Carbide agreed to pay US$470 million for damages caused in the Bhopal disaster.

9. LONG-TERM HEALTH EFFECTS A number of clinical studies are performed. Studied and reported long-term health effects are: # Eyes: Chronic conjunctivitis, scars on cornea, corneal opacities, early cataracts # Respiratory tracts: Obstructive and/or restrictive disease, aggravation of TB # Neurological system: Impairment of memory, finer motor skills, numbness etc. # Psychological problems: Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). # Children's health: Peri-and neonatal death rates increased. Failure to grow etc.

10. 35 Years Later, Bhopal Gas Leak Failures Resurface In Vizag Visakhapatnam: An unconscious woman affected by styrene vapour leak from a polymer plant, being carried to a hospital for treatment, in Visakhapatnam.