I heard about this incident several years ago when I was study in 4th or 5th standard. People used to call it as the Bhopal-gas incident which killed several people because it was a poisonous gas known as methyl isocyanate which escaped from a pesticide plant located in populated area of Bhopal in central India. From the effect of this highly poisonous gas, 2000 people died instantly and about 600,000 people were harmed badly. Mythyl isocyanate is still showing its effect, because approximately 6000 people have died since then.
The mechanical system and the personnel of the company couldn’t detect the enormous leakage of the poisonous gas which spread into air and caused massive death. Alarm was sounded but it was too late. Methyl isocyanate had already mixed in the air which was already inhaled by people. The condition became worse when doctors found difficulties to treat the patients because they were not aware of the impact of Methyl isocyanate used in the pesticide producing plant. Therefore, doctors failed to provide emergency treatment to the injured patients. Many people could have been saved from this poisonous gas, if their face had been covered with a wet towel. But due to lack of information, they couldn’t apply this therapy on the victims.
The company was sued by the Indian government for this massacre. However, they paid $470 million for the people who died and injured in the Bhopal-Union carbide disaster. Their case was settled against this payment. $1,300 had to give to every individual’s family who died in the disaster. Every injured person received only $550 because the number of casualties was very high. But the amount was not enough to treat the diseases like chronic lung issues, eye diseases, psychiatric illness and other common health problems that developed in the victims due to the massive gas disaster.
However, it is said that the half of the settlement amount still has to distribute among victims. I don’t know when it will be completed. However, Union Carbide didn’t start its operation in Bhopal plant and also couldn’t wrap up all the materials from the factory site and now those crap and rusty things are polluting the water and soil of Bhopal.
