1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy.Which gas leaked? What went Wrong?

Bhopal Gas Tragedy happened in 1984. Bhopal Gas Tragedy is considered to be world's worst industrial disaster. Bhopal Gas Tragedy took many lives in this topic we will discuss everything related to this what went wrong how did it happen everything related to this topic. This incident shook the whole country and get the attention of whole world. We will discuss about it So let's Start:

Background :

First let me tell you all this happened in Bhopal the Capital of Madhya Pradesh India. This disaster was from company name UCIL ( Union Carbide India Limited). This Factory established in 1969. Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) got leaked from this factory which is very poisonous. This company made pesticides but in the early 1980 demand decreases but the production did not stop. This leads up to the buildup of stores of unused MIC. Before this incident there were already many incidences already happened there but they were ignored to get more production. In January 1982 phosgene gas leak exposed 24 workers affected and were hospitalized. During 1982 an Engineer got affected when he comes in contact with MIC over 30% of his body was burnt. Later there was another MIC leak but all of this was ignored at that time. This company was under invested no investment are done in this. Which results in the leakage of many dangerous gases. Many complains were made but all goes waste no step was taken towards it. So this was the background of this tragedy. 

Leakage of Methyl Isocyanate :

These gases were stored in the tanks of about 68000 liters liquid MIC. In late October 1984, tank E610 lost the ability to effectively contain most o fits nitrogen gas pressure. At this time this tank contain 42 tins of liquid MIC. After this some parts of this plant were shut down for maintenance. The complained were made but ignored. In early December most of plant was in poor condition. 3 tanks E610, E611, E619 shown the problem in functioning. But on the night of 2nd December water entered in a pipe and pressure suddenly increased. Earlier the checking was done and told that the valve was totally out of condition. Then the gas leaked in the mid night.

The Bhopal Disaster : 

When the gas leaked two siren alarms rang but the outer one was turned off so that to prevent the panic in people. The employees started evacuate the plant but the gas by 2 a.m. reached the houses nearby. Many people were hospitalize and many people were admitted to Hamidia Hospital which was near to it. When the doctors came to know that the people inhale MIC Doctors don't know how to treat the people. People died in a very painful death as the problem in the respiratory system began. Later Police was informed but they also can't do anything. The Gas from tank E610 completely leaked out. This gas is in the air and this gas later on formed the Condensation type of cloud over that area. Then the condition got more worse. This all leads to painful and slow death of people. Thousands of people died as this is very dense gas. Warren Anderson was the chairman of the plant he did not respond to the suggestion of engineers. After this incidence Government took the action and made the house arrest. He was an American but with the help of US Government he manged to escaped and leave the country. Later on Legal actions were taken and compensations were given to the victims. After this Bhopal Gas leak Act passed in March 1985 allowing Government to act as legal representative. And during 1989 US give $470 million to the victims. In this incident approx. 16,000 people died and approx. 6,00,000 people got non filter injuries. This is the world's worst plant disaster ever killing so many people and affecting the lives of lakhs.

Main Reasons Behind this Disaster :

There are many reasons which we are going to discuss here:

1. Proper Maintenance was the main cause there is no up gradation in the parts of plant. Valves need to be maintained properly which is not done. 
2. Ignorance is the main reason for this disaster as no complains were listen and the employees keep on requesting to change the parts of plant. Engineers also said to change the valves but nothing was listened carefully.  
3. Storage should be 50% free which is not followed. The tanks were over the storage capacity. They are carrying much more than their capacity. So this was also one of the reason. 
4. Under Investment. Since there are no investment are coming to this company so they are using the old material which is not suitable for this plant. So this is also a huge problem. 
5. Proper cooling system and pipes.There was no proper cooling system as to store such gases you need 4 degrees temperature but this is kept in 20 degrees. No Proper Cooling system was used. 
6. Faulty valves and are water soluble. The valves are in very bad condition that they could not contain the gas and gas got leaked out.

So these are the main reason behind this disaster.

Present Situation :

Many people have suffered due to this gas. It remains the world's worst industrial disaster. Till now people are facing the problem like cancer, prolonged pain, lung diseases. There are some groundwater sources over there which are found to be still toxic even after the decades. This incident also makes the laws and guidelines related to industries even more stronger and stricter. And to prevent such events in future many strategies and implementation of laws are done with more strictness. This incidence is also a lesson for the world that if you go easy with the gases containment what they can do. 

This was all about the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy which is the huge disaster. I hope all your question have been answered in this topic. And also what went wrong which leads to this. I hope you all learn something new in this topic if you like it then share. 

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