Global InformationBhopal disaster information
 | This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. (December 2020) |
 The Bhopal pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Limited in early 1986, around a year after the disaster. | |
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| Date | 2 December 1984 – 3 December 1984 |
|---|---|
| Time | (UTC+05:30) |
| Location | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Also known as | Bhopal gas tragedy |
| Type | Chemical accident |
| Cause | Methyl isocyanate leak from the E610 storage tank on the Union Carbide India Limited plant |
| Deaths | At least 3,787;[1] over 16,000 claimed[2] |
| Non-fatal injuries | At least 558,125 |
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. In what is considered the world's worst industrial disaster,[3] over 500,000 people in the small towns around the plant were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC).[4] Estimates vary on the death toll, with the official number of immediate deaths being 2,259. In 2008, the Government of Madhya Pradesh paid compensation to the family members of 3,787 victims killed in the gas release, and to 574,366 injured victims.[1] 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.[5] Others estimate that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas-related diseases.[6]
The owner of the factory, UCIL, was majority-owned by the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) of the United States, with Indian government-controlled banks and the Indian public holding a 49.1 percent stake. In 1989, UCC paid $470 million (equivalent to $1.01 billion in 2023) to settle litigation stemming from the disaster. In 1994, UCC sold its stake in UCIL to Eveready Industries India Limited (EIIL), which subsequently merged with McLeod Russel (India) Ltd. Eveready ended clean-up on the site in 1998, when it terminated its 99-year lease and turned over control of the site to the state government of Madhya Pradesh. Dow Chemical Company purchased UCC in 2001, seventeen years after the disaster.
Civil and criminal cases filed in the United States against UCC and Warren Anderson, chief executive officer of the UCC at the time of the disaster, were dismissed and redirected to Indian courts on multiple occasions between 1986 and 2012, as the US courts focused on UCIL being a standalone entity of India. Civil and criminal cases were also filed in the District Court of Bhopal, India, involving UCC, UCIL, and Anderson.[7][8] In June 2010, seven Indian nationals who were UCIL employees in 1984, including the former UCIL chairman Keshub Mahindra, were convicted in Bhopal of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of about $2,000 each, the maximum punishment allowed by Indian law. All were released on bail shortly after the verdict. An eighth former employee was also convicted, but died before the judgement was passed.[9][10]
- ^ a b "Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Bhopal. Immediate Relief Provided by the State Government". Government of Madhya Pradesh. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Eckerman2001-p23-24was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ * Mandavilli, Apoorva (9 July 2018). "The World's Worst Industrial Disaster Is Still Unfolding". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- "Bhopal trial: Eight convicted over India gas disaster". BBC News. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 7 June 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
- "'Bhopal's tragedy has not stopped': the urban disaster still claiming lives 35 years on". The Guardian. 8 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- Mackenzie, Debora (4 December 2002). "Fresh evidence on Bhopal disaster". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ Varma, Roli; Daya R. Varma (2005). "The Bhopal Disaster of 1984". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 25: 37–45. doi:10.1177/0270467604273822. S2CID 109281859.
- ^ AK Dubey (21 June 2010). "Bhopal Gas Tragedy: 92% injuries termed "minor"". First14 News. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Eckerman2005was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Company Defends Chief in Bhopal Disaster". The New York Times. 3 August 2009. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ "U.S. Exec Arrest Sought in Bhopal Disaster". CBS News. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ "Eight convicted over Bhopal leak". BBC News. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ "Ex-Union Carbide officials sentenced over Bhopal leak". U.S. Reuters. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.