Bhopal Gas Tragedy

3rd December,1984

Raghav Gulati
Ahlcon Public school
VIII-E
 MAJOR DISASTERS Earthquake
Earthquake,
Oct, 2005 Uttarkashi,
20 Oct 1991,
Chamoli, 23
April 1999
Avalanche
Feb 2005
Flood, Assam
& Bihar 2004
Bhuj,
Earthquake,
26 January, Bhopal Gas
2001 Tragedy, Dec
1982

Earthquake, S Cyclone
Latur, 30 29 Oct 1999
Sept 1993

Tsunami
Floods, 26 Dec 2004
Mumbai,
26 July 2005

Tsunami
Tsunami 26 Dec 2004
26 Dec 2004
 THE BHOPAL DISASTER
• Around 1 a.m. on Monday, the 3rd of December, 1984,
In the city of Bhopal, Central India, a poisonous vapour
burst from the tall stacks of the Union Carbide
pesticide plant.
• This vapour was a highly toxic cloud of methyl
Isocyanate.
•2,000 died immediately
•300,000 were injured
•7,000 animals were injured, of which about one
thousand were killed.
The Bhopal Disaster
THE AFFECTED AREA
 LEAKAGE OF GAS
A tank containing methyl Isocyanate (MIC)
leaked.
MIC is an extremely reactive chemical and is used
in production of the insecticide carbaryl.
The scientific reason for the accident was that
water entered the tank where about 40 cubic
meters of MIC was stored.
When water and MIC mixed, an exothermic
chemical reaction started, producing a lot of heat
 THE POSSIBLE CAUSES
As a result, the safety valve of the tank burst because
of the increase in pressure.

It is presumed that between 20 and 30 tonnes of MIC

were released during the hour that the leak took place.

The gas leaked from a 30 m high chimney and this

height was not enough to reduce the effects of the
discharge.
HOW DID THIS INCIDENT OCCUR?
WHAT IS METHYL ISOCYANATE?

 Clear, colorless, sharp

smelling liquid
 Highly flammable
 Extremely toxic
 Volatile reaction with water
in about 10 minutes
 WHAT IS MIC USED FOR?
 Union Carbide used MIC to
produce a insecticide called
Carbaryl
 MIC reacts with 1-naphthol
in a hydrolysis process to
produce Carbaryl
 SIDE EFFECTS OF INHALING METHYL
ISOCYANATE
 Effects at 0.4ppm  Effects at 21ppm
 Breathlessness  Pulmonary Edema
 Choking  Emphysema
 Asthma  Hemorrhages
 Throat Irritation  Bronchial Pneumonia
 Eye Irritation  Death
 Skin Damage
 Vomiting
 Muscular Weakness
 Altered Consciousness
 THE POSSIBLE REASONS…
One of the main reasons for the tragedy
was found to be a result of a combination
of human factors and an incorrectly
designed safety system.
A portion of the safety equipment at the
plant had been non-operational for four
months and the rest failed.
 LAPSES ON THE PART OF THE
GOVERNMENT

The Madhya Pradesh State government had

not mandated any safety standards.
Union Carbide failed to implement its own
safety rules.
The Bhopal plant experienced six accidents
between 1981 and 1984, at least three of which
involved MIC or phosgene.
LAPSES ON PART OF UNION CARBIDE
Improper design of chimneys (without consideration of
weather conditions in all seasons)
Improper design and maintenance of safety equipment.
Not following safety regulations as that followed by UCC
plants in USA.
Decision to neglect a flare system in need of repair.
Inadequate emergency planning and community awareness.
Lack of awareness of the potential impact of MIC on the
community by the people operating the plant.
Inadequate community planning, allowing a large
population to live near a hazardous manufacturing plant.
ACUTE EFFECTS OF MIC LEAKAGE
2500 deaths in 48 hours
85000 affected
5 Lac Exposed: plants, animals including fishes
Lacrimation and burning of eyes
Breathlessness, cough & chest pain
Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome like Bronchial
asthma chronic bronchitis.
LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THE DISASTER
 Among the 500,000 people
exposed to the gas:
 20,000 have died till date
 120,000 continue to suffer
 Out of every 3 children born
after the Bhopal disaster, only
1 survived.
REMEDIATION PROCESS
 Bhopal continues to suffer the
environmental contamination
produced by the release of MIC
 Donations and
medical/volunteer assistance
has been provided
 Union Carbide accepted
responsibility and agreed to a
$470 million settlement
 PRESENT SITUATION OF UNION
CARBIDE
After the Bhopal Disaster, the company went out of
business.
They were bought by Dow Chemical in 1999
To this day, the Union Carbide location in Bhopal is
not remediated.
The plant still leaks toxic chemicals such as:
Mercury
Trichloroethane
Chlorinated organics
Lead
BASIC GREEN CHEMISTRY PRINCIPLES
These principles would have averted the disaster.
Eliminate or reduce the production of Hazardous
chemicals.
Hazardous chemicals produced should not be stored and
should be consumed in the course of the reaction.
The inventory of Hazardous chemicals if inevitable should
be of many small containers and not of one large
container.
SUGGESTED SOLUTION
Alpha Napthol on carbonyl group addition followed by
reaction with methyl amine would eventually gives
carbaryl.
This process does not generate or require handling of
Phosgene.
This process does not require storage of MIC.
Inherently safe process.
 RESCUE AT BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

Medical staff were unprepared for the thousands of casualties.

Doctors and hospitals were not informed of proper treatment
methods for MIC gas inhalation. They were told to simply give
cough medicine and eye drops to their patients. In the
immediate aftermath of the disaster, the health care system
became tremendously overloaded. Within weeks, the State
Government established a number of hospitals, clinics and
mobile units in the gas-affected area.

Radical health groups set up JSK (the People's Health Centre)
that was working a few years from 1985.

Since the leak, a very large number of private practitioners have
opened in Bhopal. In the severely affected areas, nearly 70
percent do not appear to be professionally qualified.
 STEPS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA
The Government of India has focused primarily on increasing the
hospital-based services for gas victims. Several hospitals have been built
after the disaster. In 1994, there were approximately 1.25 beds per 1,000,
compared to the recommendation from the World bank of 1.0 beds per
1,000 in developing countries.
The Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) is a 350-
bedded super speciality hospital. Heart surgery and hemodialysis are done.
Major specialities missing are gynecology, obstetrics and pediatrics. Eight
mini-units (outreach health centers) were started. Free health care for gas
victims should be offered until 2006. The management has faced problems
with strikes, and the quality of the health care is disputed.
Sambhavna Trust is a charitable trust that registered in 1995. The clinic
gives modern and ayurvedic treatments to gas victims, free of charge.
 NGOS WHICH HELPED VICTIMS OF
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
The NGOs include Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila
Stationary Karmachari Sangh and Bhopal Gas Peedit
Purush Evam Mahila Sangathan.
They demanded that the prime minister should direct
the setting up of an empowered commission for the:
 long-term medical care and
 rehabilitation of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims and
their children.
 JUSTICE TO THE VICTIMS
The Madhya Pradesh government will appeal against
the 'insufficient' punishment of two years
imprisonment awarded to seven officials of Union
Carbide India for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
The CBI has also been requested to seek the
apprehension and extradition of then Union Carbine
CEO Warren Anderson, who has been declared a
proclaimed offender in the case.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.wikipedia.org
www.timesofindia.com
www.indianexpress.com
www.Oxford journals.org
www.netphotographs.com
Thank you
 
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil
Sibal rightly stated that, “But to think that we have
passed a law and all children will get educated is not
right. What we have done is preparing a framework to
get quality education. It is for the entire community to
contribute and participate in this national endeavor,”