on the Morning of the third of December 1984 at a chemical factory in the Indian city of Bhopal in the state of Madhya Pradesh the disaster occurred, the consequences of which still have a negative impact on the environment and the health of the people of India.
In the atmosphere was about 42 tonnes of poisonous fumes methylisocyanate. Three thousand people died in the first 76 hours. Another 15 thousand died within a few years. To date, the number of affected individuals exceeds half a million people. The true cause of the accident was never established, but even after 36 years since the tragic events of Bhopal residents continue to get sick and die from infected with a deadly poison soil and water.
the history of the construction of the plant in Bhopal began in 1969. At that time the population of the city with a picturesque lake, beautifully preserved historic buildings was just over 100 thousand people. The Indian authorities were extremely concerned about attracting foreign capital into the country for development of agriculture and creation of new jobs. Find the party concerned failed in the face of the American chemical company Union carbide.
the giant Branch in India consisted of 14 companies.
This process required highly qualified personnel and active financial investments, which since the construction of the plant investors are not exercised.
To top it all off, in 1980, the crop failure triggered a sharp drop in demand for “Seville”. In Union carbide tried to sell loss-making business, but wanting to purchase the plant was not found.
Managers of the company “Union carbide” focused solely on gaining profits when placing its production in developing countries, as well as on the selection of the low-paid staff.
two months Later, after the crash in the newspaper the New York Times published the results of the investigation. The story was about several gross violations of the employees of the plant in Bhopal and top managers “Union carbide”. It turned out that in over fifteen years of operation of the chemical plant operated on terribly outdated hardware. Workers have repeatedly seen the regular internal leaks methylisocyanate. The devices did not reflect the real condition of the tanks with hazardous substances. To save on staff was fired safety inspector, whose name remained unknown. The rest of the staff of the enterprise did not have the required skills and knowledge to operate the equipment and had no idea how to act in case of serious leakage. A few hours before the explosion pipe of the catalyst was washed with water. In this case, the equipment was missingpecial valve that led to the ingress of liquid lye and sodium hydroxide straight into a barrel with dozens of tons of dangerous poison. The number methylisocyanate in the tank higher than normal in 42 times.
Even the sound of a siren and alarm messages from the plant after the explosion was no different from the usual training activities.
on the night from second to third of December 1984, 42 tons of deadly poison with prussic acid, cyanide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere. A dense white cloud quietly dropped directly into the slums of Bhopal, which completely uncontrolled was located in close proximity to the plant.
do not understand the residents woke up from the unbearable cough, burning eyes and throat. Many died from suffocation on the spot, some were still able to seek help at the nearest hospital. But in the medical institution they, too, could do nothing to help. Doctors of Bhopal were not given information about the leak and what substances were in the atmosphere. The management of the Corporation zealously kept a “commercial secret”.
the Union carbide for several years trying to prove that has no relationship to man-made disaster, a leak of a hazardous substance was the result of sabotage at the plant. In 1987, however, in the course of extrajudicial settlement of the situation of the victims of the tragedy received 470 million dollars. Noteworthy is the fact that the elimination of the consequences of the Fukushima disaster, investors have not allocated a single penny. In prison for the crime, none of the management team of the investors was not. Moreover, in 2001, the international chemical company “Dow chemical” consumed “Union carbide”, having declared that has no relation to the explosion at the plant in Bhopal and the consequences of this catastrophe.
today, the company partially sold for scrap, but the exploding tank still stands on the same spot where back in 1984.
the Whole area around the plant is infected is dangerous for the health of all living beings is chemistry. People living in the city, still suffer severe chronic diseases.
