ভূপাল দুৰ্ঘটনা: বিভিন্ন সংশোধনসমূহৰ মাজৰ পাৰ্থক্য

No edit summary
পৃষ্ঠাটোক "{{Infobox news event | title = ভূপাল দুৰ্ঘটনা | image_name = Bhopal-Union Carbide 1 crop memorial.jpg..."ৰে সলনি কৰা হ'ল
টেগ্‌: Replaced
1 নং শাৰী:
 
{{Infobox news event
| title = ভূপাল দুৰ্ঘটনা
Line 10 ⟶ 9:
| coordinates = {{Coord|23|16|51|N|77|24|38|E|region:IN-MP_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| আৰু জনা যায় = ভূপালত গেছৰ শোকাৱহ ঘটনা
| কাৰণ = ইউনিয়ন কাৰ্বাইড ইণ্ডিয়া লিমিটেড কাৰখানাত হোৱা মিথাইল আইছ'চায়ানেট গেছৰ নিৰ্গমন
| reported deaths = অতি কমেও ৩,৭৮৭; প্ৰায় ১৬,০০০ জনৰ হৈ দাবী
নিৰ্গমন
| reported deaths = অতি কমেও ৩,৭৮৭;প্ৰায় ১৬,০০০ জনৰ হৈ দাবী
| reported injuries = অতি কমেও ৫,৫৮,১২৫
| reported missing =
Line 28 ⟶ 26:
| litigation =
}}
১৯৮৪ চনৰ ২ আৰু ৩ ডিচেম্বৰত [[ভাৰত]]ৰ [[মধ্যপ্ৰদেশ]]ৰ [[ভূপাল]]স্থিত ইউনিয়ন কাৰ্বাইড কৰপৰেশন (UCC)-ৰ অধীনৰ ইউনিয়ন কাৰ্বাইড ইণ্ডিয়া লিমিটেড (UCIL; বৰ্তমানে এভাৰেডি ইণ্ডাণ্ট্ৰিজ লিমিটেড) নামৰ এটি কীটনাশক কাৰখানাত বহুলমাত্ৰাত হোৱা মিথাইল আইছ'চায়ানেট (MIC) বিষাক্ত গেছৰ নিৰ্গমনে ইয়াৰ সমীপৱৰ্তী এক বৃহৎ অঞ্চলত এই বিপৰ্যয়ৰ সূচনা কৰিছিল। এই দুৰ্ঘটনাটোক '''ভূপাল দুৰ্ঘটনা''' বা '''ভূপালত গেছৰ শোকাৱহ ঘটনা''' হিচাপে আখ্যা দিয়া হয়। প্ৰায় ৫ লক্ষাধিক লোক পীড়িত হোৱা এই দুৰ্ঘটনাটোক অনেকে ইতিহাসৰ আটাইতকৈ কৰুণ শিল্প বিপৰ্যয় হিচাপে অভিহিত কৰিছে।<ref name="MandavilliUnfolding">{{cite magazine |last1=Mandavilli |first1=Apoorva |title=The World's Worst Industrial Disaster Is Still Unfolding |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-is-still-unfolding/560726/ |access-date=10 July 2018 |magazine=The Atlantic |date=9 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="convictions">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8725140.stm|title=Bhopal trial: Eight convicted over India gas disaster |date=7 June 2010|work=BBC News|accessdate=7 June 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607185745/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8725140.stm| archivedate= 7 June 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref>
 
উৎস অনুসৰি মৃতকৰ সংখ্যা ভিন্ন যদিও চৰকাৰী তথ্য মতে তাৎক্ষণিক মৃত্যুৰ সংখ্যা ২,২৫৯। ২০০৮ চনত মধ্যপ্ৰদেশ চৰকাৰে ৩,৭৮৭টা মৃতকৰ পৰিয়াললৈ আৰু ৫,৭৪,৩৬৬ পীড়িত লোকলৈ ক্ষতিপূৰণ আগবঢ়াইছে।<ref name="rehabilitation1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/relief.htm |title=Madhya Pradesh Government : Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Bhopal |publisher=Mp.gov.in |accessdate=28 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518020821/http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/relief.htm |archivedate=18 May 2012 }}</ref> ২৬ বছৰৰ পিছত ৭ জুন, ২০১০ চনত আদালতে ৰায় নিদিয়া পৰ্যন্ত দুৰ্ঘটনাৰ প্ৰকৃত কাৰণ সম্পৰ্কে যথেষ্ট মতবিৰোধ আছিল। ভাৰত চৰকাৰ আৰু স্থানীয় সমাজকৰ্মীসকলৰ মতে শিথিল ব্যৱস্থাপনা আৰু বিলম্বিত তদাৰক বা ৰক্ষণাবেক্ষণৰ বাবে MIC টেংকলৈ পাইপেৰে পানীৰ ওভতনি প্ৰবাহ হয় আৰু দুৰ্ঘটনাটোৰ সূত্ৰপাত হয়। আনহাতে UCC মতে কোনো অসাধু ব্যক্তিৰ কূটাঘাতমূলক কামৰ বাবেহে টেংকিত পানী সোমায় আৰু বৃহৎমাত্ৰাত MIC নিগৰ্মন হয়।
১৯৮৪ চনৰ ২ আৰু ৩ ডিচেম্বৰত সংঘটিত এই দুৰ্ঘটনাটোক "ভূপাল দুৰ্ঘটনা" বা " ভূপালত গেছৰ শোকাৱহ ঘটনা" হিচাপে আখ্যা দিয়া হয়। ভাৰতৰ মধ্যপ্ৰদেশৰ ভূপালস্থিত ইউনিয়ন কাৰ্বাইড কৰপৰেশন [[UCC]] ৰ অধীনৰ ইউনিয়ন কাৰ্বাইড ইণ্ডিয়া লিমিটেড [[UCIL]](বৰ্তমানে এভাৰেডি ইণ্ডাণ্ট্ৰিজ লিমিটেড) নামৰ এটি কীটনাশক কাৰখানাত বহুলমাত্ৰাত হোৱা মিথাইল আইছ'চায়ানেট [[MIC]] বিষাক্ত গেছৰ নিৰ্গমনে ইয়াৰ সমীপৱৰ্তী এক বৃহৎ অঞ্চলত এই বিপৰ্যয়ৰ সূচনা কৰিছিল। প্ৰায় ৫ লক্ষাধিক লোক পীড়িত হোৱা এই দুৰ্ঘটনাটোক অনেকে ইতিহাসৰ আটাইতকৈ কৰুণ শিল্প বিপৰ্যয় হিচাপে অভিহিত কৰিছে।
<ref name="MandavilliUnfolding" /><ref name="convictions">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8725140.stm|title=Bhopal trial: Eight convicted over India gas disaster |date=7 June 2010|work=[[BBC News]]|accessdate=7 June 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607185745/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8725140.stm| archivedate= 7 June 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref>
 
UCC আৰু কোম্পানীটোৰ তদানীন্তন মুখ্য কাৰ্যবাহী বিষয়া ওৱাৰেন এণ্ডাৰছেনৰ বিৰুদ্ধে মাৰ্কিন যুক্তৰাষ্টৰ দেৱানী আৰু অপৰাধমূলক শাখাত এই গোচৰ তৰা হৈছিল। কিন্তু ১৯৮৬ আৰু ২০১২ চনৰ ভিতৰত আমেৰিকান আদালতে UCC ৰ অধীনৰ UCIL এটা স্বতন্ত্ৰ ভাৰতীয় কোম্পানী বুলি মত পোষণ কৰি বাৰম্বাৰ এই গোচৰ বাতিল কৰিছিল আৰু বিভিন্ন কাৰণত ভাৰতীয় আদালতলৈ পুনৰ প্ৰৰণ কৰিছিল। UCC, UCIL আৰু UCC ৰ মুখ্য কাৰ্যবাহী বিষয়া এণ্ডাৰছেনক সাঙুৰি দেৱানী আৰু অপৰাধমূলক গোচৰ ভূপালৰ জিলা আদালততো দিয়া হৈছিল।<ref>{{cite news |work=New York Times|title=Company Defends Chief in Bhopal Disaster |url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/company-defends-chief-in-bhopal-disaster/ | date=3 August 2009 | accessdate=26 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=CBS News |title=U.S. Exec Arrest Sought in Bhopal Disaster |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/31/world/main5201155.shtml | date=31 July 2009 |accessdate=26 April 2010}}</ref> ২০১০ চনৰ জুন মাহত সেই সময়ৰ অধ্যক্ষকে ধৰি ৮জন (এজনৰ ইতিমধ্যে মৃত্যু হয়) কৰ্মচাৰীক তেওঁলোকে নিজ কামত কৰা গাফিলতিয়ে সহসৃজনৰ প্ৰাণ কাঢ়ি নিয়া এই দুৰ্ঘটনাৰ বাবে দোষী সাব্যস্ত কৰি ভাৰতীয় কানুন মতে ২ বছৰৰ কাৰাদণ্ড আৰু প্ৰত্যেকজনকে ২০০০ ডলাৰৰ জৰিমনা ভৰায়।
উৎস অনুসৰি মৃতকৰ সংখ্যা ভিন্ন যদিও চৰকাৰী তথ্য মতে তাৎক্ষণিক মৃত্যুৰ সংখ্যা ২,২৫৯ ৷ ২০০৮ চনত মধ্যপ্ৰদেশ চৰকাৰে ৩,৭৮৭ টা মৃতকৰ পৰিয়াললৈ আৰু ৫,৭৪,৩৬৬ পীড়িত লোকলৈ ক্ষতিপূৰণ আগবঢ়াইছে ৷<ref name="rehabilitation1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/relief.htm |title=Madhya Pradesh Government : Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Bhopal |publisher=Mp.gov.in |accessdate=28 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518020821/http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/relief.htm |archivedate=18 May 2012 }}</ref> ২৬ বছৰৰ পিছত ৭ জুন, ২০১০ চনত আদালতে ৰায় নিদিয়া পৰ্যন্ত দূৰ্ঘটনাৰ প্ৰকৃত কাৰণ সম্পৰ্কে যথেষ্ট মতবিৰোধ আছিল ৷ ভাৰত চৰকাৰ আৰু স্হানীয় সমাজকৰ্মীসকলৰ মতে শিথিল ব্যৱস্হাপনা আৰু বিলম্বিত তদাৰক বা ৰক্ষণাবেক্ষণৰ বাবে MIC টেংকলৈ পাইপেৰে পানীৰ উভতনি প্ৰবাহ হয় আৰু দূৰ্ঘটনাটোৰ সূত্ৰপাত হয় ৷ আনহাতে UCC মতে কোনো অসাধু ব্যক্তিৰ কূটাঘাতমূলক কামৰ বাবেহে টেংকিত পানী সোমায় আৰু বৃহৎমাত্ৰাত MIC নিগৰ্মন হয় ৷
 
UCC আৰু কোম্পানীটোৰ তদানীন্তন মুখ্য কাৰ্যবাহী বিষয়া ওৱাৰেন এণ্ডাৰছেনৰ বিৰুদ্ধে মাৰ্কিন যুক্তৰাষ্টৰ দেৱানী আৰু অপৰাধমূলক শাখাত এই গোচৰ তৰা হৈছিল৷ কিন্তু ১৯৮৬ আৰু ২০১২ চনৰ ভিতৰত আমেৰিকান আদালতে UCC ৰ অধীনৰ UCIL এটা স্বতন্ত্ৰ ভাৰতীয় কোম্পানী বুলি মত পোষণ কৰি বাৰম্বাৰ এই গোচৰ বাতিল কৰিছিল আৰু বিভিন্ন কাৰণত ভাৰতীয় আদালতলৈ
পুনৰ প্ৰৰণ কৰিছিল ৷ UCC, UCIL আৰু UCC ৰ মুখ্য কাৰ্যবাহী বিষয়া এণ্ডাৰছেনক সাঙুৰি দেৱানী আৰু অপৰাধমূলক গোচৰ ভূপালৰ জিলা আদালততো দিয়া হৈছিল ৷
<ref>{{cite news |work=New York Times|title=Company Defends Chief in Bhopal Disaster |url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/company-defends-chief-in-bhopal-disaster/ | date=3 August 2009 | accessdate=26 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[CBS News]] |title=U.S. Exec Arrest Sought in Bhopal Disaster |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/31/world/main5201155.shtml | date=31 July 2009 |accessdate=26 April 2010}}</ref>
২০১০ চনৰ জুন মাহত সেই সময়ৰ অধ্যক্ষকে ধৰি ৮ জন (এজনৰ ইতিমধ্যে মৃত্যু হয়) কৰ্মচাৰীক তেওঁলোকে নিজ কামত কৰা গাফিলতিয়ে সহস্ৰজনৰ প্ৰাণ কাঢ়ি নিয়া এই দুৰ্ঘটনাৰ বাবে দোষী সাব্যস্ত কৰি ভাৰতীয় কানুন মতে ২ বছৰৰ কাৰাদণ্ড আৰু প্ৰত্যেকজনকে ২০০০ ডলাৰৰ জৰিমনা ভৰায় ৷
==Background==
<!--
The UCIL factory was built in 1969 to produce the pesticide Sevin (UCC's brand name for [[carbaryl]]) using [[methyl isocyanate|methyl isocyanate (MIC)]] as an intermediate.<ref name="Eckerman2005">{{cite book |last=Eckerman |first=Ingrid |title=The Bhopal Saga—Causes and Consequences of the World's Largest Industrial Disaster |url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0FqO8XKy9NRZDNzTkZQeVJQbE0/edit?pli=1 |year=2005 |publisher=Universities Press |location=India |isbn=978-81-7371-515-0 |doi=10.13140/2.1.3457.5364}}</ref> An MIC production plant was added to the UCIL site in 1979.<ref name="UCCmanual1976">{{cite book |title=Methyl isocyanate |year=1976 |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |location=New York}} F-41443A-7/76</ref><ref name="UCCmanual1978">{{cite book |title=Carbon monoxide, Phosgene and Methyl isocyanate. Unit Safety Procedures Manual |publisher=Union Carbide India Limited, Agricultural Products Division |year=1978 |location=Bhopal}}</ref><ref name="UCCmanual1979">{{cite book |title=Operating Manual Part-II. Methyl Isocyanate Unit |authors=Behl VK, Agarwal VN, Choudhary SP, Khanna S |location=Bhopal |publisher=Union Carbide India Limited, Agricultural Products Division |year=1979}}</ref> The chemical process employed in the Bhopal plant had [[methylamine]] reacting with [[phosgene]] to form MIC, which was then reacted with [[1-naphthol]] to form the final product, carbaryl. Another manufacturer, Bayer, also used this MIC-intermediate process at the chemical plant once owned by UCC at [[Institute, West Virginia]], in the United States.<ref name="Kovel">Kovel (2002).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201103181523|title=Bayer gives up fight to restart Institute MIC unit|author=Ward, Ken Jr.|date=18 March 2011|work=The Charleston Gazette|accessdate=24 September 2013}}</ref>
 
After the Bhopal plant was built, other manufacturers (including [[Bayer]]) produced carbaryl without MIC, though at a greater [[manufacturing cost]]. This "route" differed from the MIC-free routes used elsewhere, in which the same raw materials were combined in a different manufacturing order, with phosgene first reacting with naphthol to form a chloroformate ester, which was, in turn, reacted with methylamine. In the early 1980s, the demand for pesticides had fallen, but production continued regardless, leading to an accumulation of stores of unused MIC where that method was used.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Kovel" />
-->
===Earlier leaks===
<!--
In 1976, two local trade unions complained of pollution within the plant.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2006">{{cite journal |url=http://www.ttl.fi/en/publications/electronic_journals/asian_pacific_newsletter/archives/Documents/asian_pacific_newsletter2_2006.pdf |title=The Bhopal Disaster 1984&nbsp;– working conditions and the role of the trade unions |last=Eckerman |first=Ingrid |journal=Asian Pacific Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety |year=2006 |volume=13 |issue=2 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716021643/http://www.ttl.fi/en/publications/electronic_journals/asian_pacific_newsletter/archives/Documents/asian_pacific_newsletter2_2006.pdf |archivedate=16 July 2011 }}</ref> In 1981, a worker was accidentally splashed with [[phosgene]] as he was carrying out a maintenance job of the plant's pipes. In a panic, he removed his [[gas mask]] and inhaled a large amount of toxic phosgene gas, leading to his demise 72 hours later.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2006" /> Following these events, journalist [[Rajkumar Keswani]] began investigating and published his findings in Bhopal's local paper ''Rapat,'' in which he urged "Wake up, people of Bhopal, you are on the edge of a volcano."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/11/world/indian-journalist-offered-warning.html|title=INDIAN JOURNALIST OFFERED WARNING|last=Hazarika|first=Sanjoy|access-date=2 October 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title=How to be really well informed in minutes|last=The Week|publisher=Ebury Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-09194-706-4|location=Croydon|pages=222–225}}</ref>
 
In January 1982, a phosgene leak exposed 24 workers, all of whom were admitted to a hospital. None of the workers had been ordered to wear protective equipment. One month later, in February 1982, a MIC leak affected 18 workers. In August 1982, a chemical engineer came into contact with liquid MIC, resulting in burns over 30 percent of his body. Later that same year, in October 1982, there was another MIC leak. In attempting to stop the leak, the MIC supervisor suffered severe chemical burns and two other workers were severely exposed to the gases. During 1983 and 1984, there were leaks of MIC, chlorine, monomethylamine, phosgene, and [[carbon tetrachloride]], sometimes in combination.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2006" />
-->
==Leakage and its effects==
 
=== Liquid MIC storage ===
<!--
The Bhopal UCIL facility housed three underground 68,000-litre liquid MIC storage tanks: E610, E611, and E619. In the months leading up to the December leak, liquid MIC production was in progress and being used to fill these tanks. UCC safety regulations specified that no one tank should be filled more than 50% (here, 30 tons) with liquid MIC. Each tank was pressurized with inert nitrogen gas. This pressurization allowed liquid MIC to be pumped out of each tank as needed, and also kept impurities out of the tanks.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://apps.engr.utexas.edu/ethics/profresp/lesson2/engineers.cfm|title=UT Austin College of Engineering -- Ethics Modules :: Go Public|website=apps.engr.utexas.edu|access-date=9 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702065609/http://apps.engr.utexas.edu/ethics/profresp/lesson2/engineers.cfm|archive-date=2 July 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
In late October 1984, tank E610 lost the ability to effectively contain most of its nitrogen gas pressure, which meant that the liquid MIC contained within could not be pumped out. At the time of this failure, tank E610 contained 42 tons of liquid MIC.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72JUj80ZTIwC|title=Wealth from Waste|last=Agarwal|first=S. K.|date=1 January 2005|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=9788176488235|page=131|language=en}}</ref> Shortly after this failure, MIC production was halted at the Bhopal facility, and parts of the plant were shut down for maintenance. Maintenance included the shutdown of the plant's [[Gas flare|flare tower]] so that a corroded pipe could be repaired.<ref name=":6" /> With the flare tower still out of service, production of carbaryl was resumed in late November, using MIC stored in the two tanks still in service. An attempt to re-establish pressure in tank E610 on 1 December failed, so the 42 tons of liquid MIC contained within still could not be pumped out of it.<ref name=":7" />
-->
===The release===
<!--
[[File:Bhopal Plant 7.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|Tank 610 in 2010. During decontamination of the plant, tank 610 was removed from its foundation and left aside.]]
[[File:Preparation of carbaryl as in Bhopal.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Methylamine]] ('''1''') reacts with [[phosgene]] ('''2''') producing [[methyl isocyanate]] ('''3''') which reacts with [[1-naphthol]] ('''4''') to yield [[carbaryl]] ('''5''').]]
 
By early December 1984, most of the plant's MIC related safety systems were malfunctioning and many valves and lines were in poor condition. In addition, several [[Scrubber|vent gas scrubbers]] had been out of service as well as the steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> During the late evening hours of 2 December 1984, water was believed to have entered a side pipe and into Tank E610 whilst trying to unclog it, which contained 42 tons of MIC that had been there since late October.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
The introduction of water into the tank subsequently resulted in a [[Thermal runaway|runaway]] [[exothermic reaction]], which was accelerated by contaminants, high ambient temperatures and various other factors, such as the presence of iron from corroding non-stainless steel pipelines.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The pressure in tank E610, although initially nominal at 2 psi at 10:30&nbsp;p.m., it had reached 10 psi by 11 p.m. Two different senior refinery employees assumed the reading was instrumentation malfunction.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/30/world/the-disaster-in-bhopal-workers-recall-horror.html|title=THE DISASTER IN BHOPAL: WORKERS RECALL HORROR|last=Times|first=Stuart Diamond, Special To The New York|date=30 January 1985|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref> By 11:30&nbsp;p.m., workers in the MIC area were feeling the effects of minor exposure to MIC gas, and began to look for a leak. One was found by 11:45&nbsp;p.m., and reported to the MIC supervisor on duty at the time. The decision was made to address the problem after a 12:15&nbsp;a.m. tea break, and in the meantime, employees were instructed to continue looking for leaks. The incident was discussed by MIC area employees during the break.<ref name=":0" />
 
In the five minutes after the tea break ended at 12:40&nbsp;a.m., the reaction in tank E610 reached a critical state at an alarming speed. Temperatures in the tank were off the scale, maxed out beyond {{convert|25|°C|°F}}, and the pressure in the tank was indicated at 40 psi (275.8&nbsp;kPa). One employee witnessed a concrete slab above tank E610 crack as the emergency relief valve burst open, and pressure in the tank continued to increase to 55 psi (379.2&nbsp;kPa); this despite the fact that atmospheric venting of toxic MIC gas had already begun.<ref name=":0" /> Direct atmospheric venting should have been prevented or at least partially mitigated by at least three safety devices which were malfunctioning, not in use, insufficiently sized or otherwise rendered inoperable:<ref>{{Citation|last=Patrick McClelland|title=BBC One Night In Bhopal 2004 TVRip d0x|date=31 December 2012|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJg19W8x_Ls|accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bhopal.net/what-happened/that-night-december-3-1984/what-triggered-the-disaster/|title=What Triggered the Disaster? {{!}} International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal|website=bhopal.net|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref>
 
* A refrigeration system meant to cool tanks containing liquid MIC, shut down in January 1982, and whose freon had been removed in June 1984. Since the MIC storage system assumed refrigeration, its high temperature alarm, set to sound at {{convert|11|°C|°F}} had long since been disconnected, and tank storage temperatures ranged between {{convert|15|°C|°F}} and {{convert|40|°C|°F}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-15-22804|title=Remembering Bhopal: NES Workshop 2015|last=Jones|first=Tommy Ray|date=16 April 2015|website=|access-date=}}</ref>
* A flare tower, to burn the MIC gas as it escaped, which had had a connecting pipe removed for maintenance, and was improperly sized to neutralise a leak of the size produced by tank E610
* A vent gas scrubber, which had been deactivated at the time and was in 'standby' mode, and similarly had insufficient [[Sodium hydroxide|caustic soda]] and power to safely stop a leak of the magnitude produced
 
About 30 tonnes of MIC escaped from the tank into the atmosphere in 45 to 60 minutes.<ref name="Varma 2005" /> This would increase to 40 tonnes within two hours.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://thephoenixsun.com/archives/7118|title=The Phoenix Sun {{!}} Disaster Politics {{!}} Bhopal to Copenhagen|website=thephoenixsun.com|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref> The gases were blown in a southeasterly direction over Bhopal.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref>{{Cite episode|title=Bhopal Nightmare|episodelink=|series=Seconds from Disaster|serieslink=Seconds from Disaster|credits=Narrator: Ashton Smith|network=Nat Geo|date=10 October 2011|season=4|number=6|minutes=5:45}}</ref>
 
A UCIL employee triggered the plant's alarm system at 12:50&nbsp;a.m. as the concentration of gas in and around the plant became difficult to tolerate.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Activation of the system triggered two siren alarms: one that sounded inside the UCIL plant itself, and a second directed to the exterior, which would alert the public and the city of Bhopal. The two siren systems had been decoupled from one another in 1982, so that it was possible to leave the factory warning siren on while turning off the public one, and this is exactly what was done: the public siren briefly sounded at 12:50&nbsp;a.m. and was quickly turned off, as per company procedure meant to avoid alarming the public around the factory over tiny leaks.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cseindia.org/userfiles/THE%20BHOPAL%20DISASTER.pdf|title=The Bhopal Disaster (India's Environment 1984-85)|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528042900/http://www.cseindia.org/userfiles/THE%20BHOPAL%20DISASTER.pdf|archivedate=28 May 2016}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Citation|last=Patrick McClelland|title=BBC One Night In Bhopal 2004 TVRip d0x|date=31 December 2012|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJg19W8x_Ls|accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref> Workers, meanwhile, evacuated the UCIL plant, travelling upwind.
 
Bhopal's superintendent of police was informed by telephone, by a town inspector, that residents of the neighbourhood of Chola (about 2&nbsp;km from the plant) were fleeing a gas leak at approximately 1 a.m.<ref name=":2" /> Calls to the UCIL plant by police between 1:25 and 2:10&nbsp;a.m. gave assurances twice that "everything is OK", and on the last attempt made, "we don't know what has happened, sir".<ref name=":2" /> With the lack of timely information exchange between UCIL and Bhopal authorities, the city's [[Hamidia Hospital]] was first told that the gas leak was suspected to be [[ammonia]], then [[phosgene]]. Finally, they received an updated report that it was "MIC" (rather than "methyl isocyanate"), of which hospital staff had never heard of and had no antidote for, nor did they receive any immediate information about it.<ref>{{Citation|last=Disaster One|title=Seconds From Disaster - Bhopal Nightmare|date=18 October 2015|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOIFK0E1Pgs|accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref>
 
The MIC gas leak emanating from tank E610 petered out at approximately 2:00&nbsp;a.m. Fifteen minutes later, the plant's public siren was sounded for an extended period of time, after first having been quickly silenced an hour and a half earlier.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTESCgAAQBAJ|title=An Invitation to Environmental Sociology|last=Bell|first=Michael Mayerfeld|last2=Ashwood|first2=Loka L.|date=1 July 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=9781452275789|page=164|language=en}}</ref> Some minutes after the public siren sounded, a UCIL employee walked to a police control room to both inform them of the leak (their first acknowledgement that one had occurred at all), and that "the leak had been plugged."<ref name=":3" /> Most city residents who were exposed to the MIC gas were first made aware of the leak by exposure to the gas itself, or by opening their doors to investigate commotion, rather than having been instructed to [[shelter in place]], or to evacuate before the arrival of the gas in the first place.<ref name=":4" />
-->
===Acute effects===
<!--
[[File:Glutathione + Methylisocyanate Reaction.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Reversible reaction of [[glutathione]] (top) with [[methyl isocyanate]] (MIC, middle) allows the MIC to be transported into the body.]]
 
The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, [[blepharospasm]], breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. People awakened by these symptoms fled away from the plant. Those who ran inhaled more than those who had a vehicle to ride. Owing to their height, children and other residents of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations, as methyl isocyanate gas is approximately twice as dense as air and, therefore, in an open environment has a tendency to fall toward the ground.<ref name="D" />
 
Thousands of people had died by the following morning. Primary causes of deaths were [[choking]], reflexogenic [[circulatory collapse]] and [[pulmonary oedema]]. Findings during [[autopsy|autopsies]] revealed changes not only in the lungs but also [[cerebral oedema]], [[tubular necrosis]] of the kidneys, [[Fatty liver|fatty degeneration of the liver]] and necrotising [[enteritis]].<ref name="Sriramachari">Sriramachari (2004).</ref> The [[stillbirth]] rate increased by up to 300% and [[Perinatal mortality#Neonatal mortality|neonatal mortality]] rate by around 200%.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
-->
=== Gas cloud composition ===
<!--
Apart from MIC, based on laboratory simulation conditions, the gas cloud most likely also contained [[chloroform]], [[dichloromethane]], [[hydrogen chloride]], [[methylamine]], [[dimethylamine]], [[trimethylamine]] and [[carbon dioxide]], that was either present in the tank or was produced in the storage tank when MIC, chloroform and water reacted. The gas cloud, composed mainly of materials denser than air, stayed close to the ground and spread in the southeasterly direction affecting the nearby communities.<ref name="D" /> The chemical reactions may have produced a liquid or solid [[aerosol]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=30 September 2012|title=Bhopal atmospheric dispersion revisited|journal=Journal of Hazardous Materials|volume=233–234|pages=33–40|doi=10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.06.055|pmid=22819479|vauthors=Havens J, Walker H, Spicer T}}</ref>
Laboratory investigations by CSIR and UCC scientists failed to demonstrate the presence of hydrogen cyanide.<ref name="D" /><ref name="csir">{{cite book|title=Report on Scientific Studies on the Factors Related to Bhopal Toxic Gas Leakage|publisher=New Delhi: Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research|year=1985|display-authors=etal|author=Varadarajan S}}</ref>
-->
====Immediate aftermath====
<!--
In the immediate aftermath, the plant was closed to outsiders (including UCC) by the [[Government of India|Indian government]], which subsequently failed to make data public, contributing to the confusion. The initial investigation was conducted entirely by the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] (CSIR) and the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]]. The UCC chairman and CEO [[Warren Anderson (American businessman)|Warren Anderson]], together with a technical team, immediately travelled to India. Upon arrival Anderson was placed under house arrest and urged by the Indian government to leave the country within 24 hours. Union Carbide organized a team of international medical experts, as well as supplies and equipment, to work with the local Bhopal medical community, and the UCC technical team began assessing the cause of the gas leak.
 
The health care system immediately became overloaded. In the severely affected areas, nearly 70 percent were under-qualified doctors. Medical staff were unprepared for the thousands of casualties. Doctors and hospitals were not aware of proper treatment methods for MIC gas inhalation.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />{{rp|6}}
 
There were mass funerals and cremations. Photographer [[Pablo Bartholomew|Pablo Bartholemew]], on commission with press agency [[Rapho (agency)|Rapho]], took an iconic color photograph of a burial on 4 December, ''Bhopal gas disaster girl.'' Another photographer present, [[Raghu Rai]], took a black and white photo. The photographers did not ask for the identity of the father or child as she was buried, and no relative has since confirmed it. As such, the identity of the girl remains unknown. Both photos became symbolic of the suffering of victims of the Bhopal disaster, and Bartholomew's went on to win the 1984 World Press Photo of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/1985/world-press-photo-year/pablo-bartholomew|title=1985 Pablo Bartholomew WY|website=World Press Photo|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref>
 
Within a few days, trees in the vicinity became barren and bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed of. 170,000 people were treated at hospitals and temporary dispensaries, and 2,000 buffalo, goats, and other animals were collected and buried. Supplies, including food, became scarce owing to suppliers' safety fears. Fishing was prohibited causing further supply shortages.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
Lacking any safe alternative, on 16 December, tanks 611 and 619 were emptied of the remaining MIC by reactivating the plant and continuing the manufacture of pesticide. Despite safety precautions such as having water-carrying helicopters continually overflying the plant, this led to a second mass evacuation from Bhopal. The Government of India passed the "Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act" that gave the government rights to represent all victims, whether or not in India. Complaints of lack of information or misinformation were widespread. An Indian government spokesman said, "Carbide is more interested in getting information from us than in helping our relief work".<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
Formal statements were issued that air, water, vegetation and foodstuffs were safe, but warned not to consume fish. The number of children exposed to the gases was at least 200,000.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> Within weeks, the State Government established a number of hospitals, clinics and mobile units in the gas-affected area to treat the victims.
-->
==Subsequent legal action==
<!--
[[File:BHOPAL (231583728).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Victims of Bhopal disaster march in September 2006 demanding the extradition of American [[Warren Anderson (American businessman)|Warren Anderson]] from the United States.|alt=Number of women pictured in black and white colour, sitting and protesting against Anderson and the company.]]
Legal proceedings involving UCC, the United States and Indian governments, local Bhopal authorities, and the disaster victims started immediately after the catastrophe. The Indian Government passed the Bhopal Gas Leak Act in March 1985, allowing the Government of India to act as the legal representative for victims of the disaster,<ref name="chrono" /> leading to the beginning of legal proceedings. Initial lawsuits were generated in the United States federal court system. On 17 April 1985, Federal District court judge [[John F. Keenan]] (overseeing one lawsuit) suggested that "'fundamental human decency' required Union Carbide to provide between $5 million and $10 million to immediately help the injured" and suggested the money could be quickly distributed through the International Red Cross.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/120143461|title=19 Apr 1985, Page 56 - Arizona Republic at Newspapers.com|website=$5 million in relief offered to gas-leak victims|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref> UCC, on the notion that doing so did not constitute an admission of liability and the figure could be credited toward any future settlement or judgement, offered a $5 million relief fund two days later.<ref name=":5" /> The Indian government turned down the offer.<ref name="D" />
 
In March 1986, UCC proposed a settlement figure, endorsed by plaintiffs' U.S. attorneys, of {{Nowrap|$350 million}} that would, according to the company, "generate a fund for Bhopal victims of between {{Nowrap|$500–600 million}} over 20 years". In May, litigation was transferred from the United States to Indian courts by a U.S. District Court ruling. Following an appeal of this decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the transfer, judging, in January 1987, that UCIL was a "separate entity, owned, managed and operated exclusively by Indian citizens in India".<ref name="chrono" />
 
The Government of India refused the offer from Union Carbide and claimed US${{Nowrap|3.3 billion}}.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The [[Supreme Court of India|Indian Supreme Court]] told both sides to come to an agreement and "start with a clean slate" in November 1988.<ref name="chrono" /> Eventually, in an out-of-court settlement reached in February 1989, Union Carbide agreed to pay US${{Nowrap|470 million}} for damages caused in the Bhopal disaster.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The amount was immediately paid.
 
Throughout 1990, the [[Indian Supreme Court]] heard appeals against the settlement. In October 1991, the Supreme Court upheld the original {{Nowrap|$470 million}}, dismissing any other outstanding petitions that challenged the original decision. The Court ordered the Indian government "to purchase, out of settlement fund, a group medical insurance policy to cover 100,000 persons who may later develop symptoms" and cover any shortfall in the settlement fund. It also requested UCC and its subsidiary UCIL "voluntarily" fund a hospital in Bhopal, at an estimated {{Nowrap|$17 million}}, to specifically treat victims of the Bhopal disaster. The company agreed to this.<ref name="chrono" />
-->
===Post-settlement activity===
<!--
In 1991, the local Bhopal authorities charged Anderson, who had retired in 1986, with manslaughter, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He was declared a fugitive from justice by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal on 1 February 1992 for failing to appear at the court hearings in a culpable [[homicide]] case in which he was named the chief defendant. Orders were passed to the Government of India to press for an [[extradition]] from the United States. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] refused to hear an appeal of the decision of the lower federal courts in October 1993, meaning that victims of the Bhopal disaster could not seek damages in a U.S. court.<ref name="chrono" />
 
In 2004, the Indian Supreme Court ordered the Indian government to release any remaining settlement funds to victims. And in September 2006, the Welfare Commission for Bhopal Gas Victims announced that all original compensation claims and revised petitions had been "cleared".<ref name="chrono" /> The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit Court of Appeals]] in New York City upheld the dismissal of remaining claims in the case of ''Bano v. Union Carbide Corporation'' in 2006. This move blocked plaintiffs' motions for class certification and claims for property damages and remediation. In the view of UCC, "the ruling reaffirms UCC's long-held positions and finally puts to rest—both procedurally and substantively—the issues raised in the class action complaint first filed against Union Carbide in 1999 by Haseena Bi and several organisations representing the residents of Bhopal".<ref name="chrono" />
 
In June 2010, seven former employees of UCIL, all Indian nationals and many in their 70s, were convicted of causing death by [[negligence]]: Keshub Mahindra, former non-executive chairman of Union Carbide India Limited; V. P. Gokhale, managing director; Kishore Kamdar, vice-president; J. Mukund, works manager; S. P. Chowdhury, production manager; K. V. Shetty, plant superintendent; and S. I. Qureshi, production assistant. They were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and fined {{INRConvert|100|k|year=2010}}. All were released on bail shortly after the verdict.
 
US federal class action litigation, ''Sahu v. Union Carbide and Warren Anderson'', was filed in 1999 under the [[Alien Tort Statute|U.S. Alien Torts Claims Act]] (ATCA), which provides for civil remedies for "crimes against humanity."<ref>{{Cite web| last = Pappu
| first = Sridhar| title = The Bhopal Evasion| work = [[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]| accessdate = 7 June 2014| date = December 2006
| url = https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/11/bhopal-evasion}}</ref> It sought damages for personal injury, medical monitoring and injunctive relief in the form of clean-up of the drinking water supplies for residential areas near the Bhopal plant. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2012 and the subsequent appeal was denied.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.earthrights.org/sites/default/files/documents/District-Court-June-2012-dismissal-of-Sahu-I.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=28 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030030142/http://www.earthrights.org/sites/default/files/documents/District-Court-June-2012-dismissal-of-Sahu-I.pdf |archivedate=30 October 2012 }}</ref> Former [[Warren Anderson (American businessman)|UCC CEO Anderson]], then 92 years old, died on 29 September 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/business/w-m-anderson-92-dies-led-union-carbide-in-80s-.html|title=Warren Anderson, 92, Dies; Faced India Plant Disaster|first=Douglas|last=Martin|publisher=New York Times|date=30 October 2014|accessdate=8 August 2017|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
-->
 
==Long-term effects==
<!--
In 2018, ''[[The Atlantic]]'' called it the "world’s worst industrial disaster."<ref name="MandavilliUnfolding">{{cite magazine |last1=Mandavilli |first1=Apoorva |title=The World's Worst Industrial Disaster Is Still Unfolding |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-is-still-unfolding/560726/ |accessdate=10 July 2018 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |date=9 July 2018}}</ref>
-->
===Long-term health effects===
<!--
Some data about the health effects are still not available. The [[Indian Council of Medical Research]] (ICMR) was forbidden to publish health effect data until 1994.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
A total of 36 wards were marked by the authorities as being "gas affected," affecting a population of 520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of age, and 3,000 were pregnant women. The official immediate death toll was 2,259, and in 1991, 3,928 deaths had been officially certified. Ingrid Eckerman estimated 8,000 died within two weeks.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001">{{cite book |last=Eckerman |first=Ingrid |title=Chemical industry and public health. Bhopal as an example |year=2001 |publisher=Nordic School of Public Health |location=Gothenburg, Sweden |url=http://www.lakareformiljon.org/images/stories/dokument/2009/bhopal_gas_disaster.pdf}}</ref>
 
The [[government of Madhya Pradesh]] confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.<ref name="rehabilitation1"/>
 
Later, the affected area was expanded to include 700,000 citizens. A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.<ref name="first3" />
 
A [[cohort (statistics)|cohort]] of 80,021 exposed people was registered, along with a control group, a cohort of 15,931 people from areas not exposed to MIC. Nearly every year since 1986, they have answered the same questionnaire. It shows [[mortality rate|overmortality]] and [[Disease#Morbidity|overmorbidity]] in the exposed group. [[Bias]] and [[confounding factor]]s cannot be excluded from the study. Because of migration and other factors, 75% of the cohort is lost, as the ones who moved out are not followed.<ref name=Eckerman2005 /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sharma DC |journal=The Lancet |title=Bhopal study represents "missed opportunity" |year=2013 |volume=382 |issue=9908 |page=1870 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62562-3|pmid=24325010 }}</ref>
 
A number of clinical studies are performed. The quality varies, but the different reports support each other.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> Studied and reported long-term health effects are:
* Eyes: Chronic conjunctivitis, scars on cornea, corneal opacities, early cataracts
* Respiratory tracts: Obstructive and/or restrictive disease, pulmonary fibrosis, aggravation of TB and chronic bronchitis
* Neurological system: Impairment of memory, finer motor skills, numbness etc.
* Psychological problems: Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
* Children's health: Peri- and neonatal death rates increased. Failure to grow, intellectual impairment, etc.
 
Missing or insufficient fields for research are female reproduction, chromosomal aberrations, cancer, immune deficiency, neurological sequelae, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and children born after the disaster. Late cases that might never be highlighted are respiratory insufficiency, cardiac insufficiency (cor pulmonale), cancer and tuberculosis. Bhopal now has high rates of birth defects and records a [[miscarriage]] rate 7x higher than the national average.<ref name=":8" />
 
A 2014 report in ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' quotes a "spokesperson for the Bhopal Medical Appeal, which runs free health clinics for survivors" as saying "An estimated 120,000 to 150,000 survivors still struggle with serious medical conditions including nerve damage, growth problems, gynecological disorders, respiratory issues, birth defects, and elevated rates of cancer and tuberculosis."<ref>
{{Cite news
| last = Masi
| first = Alex
|author2=Sanjay Verma |author3=Maddie Oatman
| title = Photos: Living in the Shadow of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster: Thirty years after the Union Carbide leak killed thousands, residents are still dealing with contaminated water, toxic waste, and lingering diseases
| work = [[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]
| accessdate = 7 June 2014
| date = 2 June 2014
| url = https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/06/photos-bhopal-india-union-carbide-sanjay-verma-pesticides-explosion
}}</ref>
-->
===Health care===
<!--
The Government of India had focused primarily on increasing the hospital-based services for gas victims thus hospitals had been built after the disaster. When UCC wanted to sell its shares in UCIL, it was directed by the Supreme Court to finance a 500-bed hospital for the medical care of the survivors. Thus, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) was inaugurated in 1998 and was obliged to give free care for survivors for eight years. BMHRC was a 350-bedded super speciality hospital where heart surgery and hemodialysis were done. There was a dearth of gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics. Eight mini-units (outreach health centres) were started and free health care for gas victims were to be offered until 2006.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The management had also faced problems with strikes, and the quality of the health care being disputed.<ref name=BMHT2005>{{cite web|title=Bhopal Memorial Hospital closed indefinitely|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/04/stories/2005070401510500.htm|work=The Hindu|date=4 July 2005|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Time line|url=http://www.bhopal.net/delhi-marchers/factsheets/BMHT%20sheet.pdf|publisher=Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust|accessdate=30 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406192139/http://www.bhopal.net/delhi-marchers/factsheets/BMHT%20sheet.pdf|archivedate=6 April 2012}}</ref> [[Sambhavna Trust]] is a charitable trust, registered in 1995, that gives [[modern medicine|modern]] as well as [[ayurvedic]] treatments to gas victims, free of charge.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="sambhavna">{{cite web |publisher=Sambhavna Trust |title=The Bhopal Medical appeal |url=http://www.bhopal.org}}</ref>
-->
===Environmental rehabilitation===
<!--
When the factory was closed in 1986, pipes, drums and tanks were sold. The MIC and the Sevin plants are still there, as are storages of different residues. Isolation material is falling down and spreading.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The area around the plant was used as a dumping area for hazardous chemicals. In 1982 [[tubewell]]s in the vicinity of the UCIL factory had to be abandoned and tests in 1989 performed by UCC's laboratory revealed that soil and water samples collected from near the factory and inside the plant were toxic to fish.<ref name="UCC1989">{{cite book |title=Presence of Toxic Ingredients in Soil/Water Samples Inside Plant Premises |location=USA |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |year=1989}}</ref> Several other studies had also shown polluted soil and groundwater in the area. Reported polluting compounds include [[1-naphthol]], [[naphthalene]], [[Carbaryl|Sevin]], [[tar|tarry residue]], [[mercury (element)|mercury]], toxic [[organochlorine]]s, volatile organochlorine compounds, [[chromium]], copper, nickel, lead, [[hexachloroethane]], [[hexachlorobutadiene]], and the pesticide [[Hexachlorocyclohexane|HCH]].<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
In order to provide safe drinking water to the population around the UCIL factory, Government of Madhya Pradesh presented a scheme for improvement of water supply.<ref name="GovMP" /> In December 2008, the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided that the toxic waste should be incinerated at [[Ankleshwar]] in Gujarat, which was met by protests from activists all over India.<ref name="Times of India 16 Dec 2008">{{cite news |title=Carbide waste to go: HC |date=16 December 2008 |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-16/india/27937330_1_carbide-waste-toxic-waste-direction-for-safe-disposal |work= The Times of India|accessdate=7 January 2009 }}</ref> On 8 June 2012, the Centre for incineration of toxic Bhopal waste agreed to pay {{INRConvert |250|m|nolink=yes}} to dispose of UCIL chemical plants waste in Germany.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-09/india/32140129_1_toxic-waste-gom-babulal-gaur | title=Centre to pay Rs 25 crore to dump Bhopal waste in Germany| date=9 June 2012|accessdate=30 August 2012|work=The Times of India}}</ref> On 9 August 2012, Supreme court directed the Union and Madhya Pradesh Governments to take immediate steps for disposal of toxic waste lying around and inside the factory within six months.<ref>{{Cite news|first=J.|last=Venkatesan|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3747020.ece |title=Supreme Court orders disposal of Bhopal toxic waste in six months |date=10 August 2012|accessdate=30 August 2012|newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref>
 
A U.S. court rejected the lawsuit blaming UCC for causing soil and water pollution around the site of the plant and ruled that responsibility for remedial measures or related claims rested with the State Government and not with UCC.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-28/india/32456094_1_ucil-union-carbide-india-ucc| title=US court absolves Union Carbide of liability in Bhopal tragedy | date=28 June 2012|accessdate=30 August 2012|work=The Times of India}}</ref> In 2005, the state government invited various Indian architects to enter their "concept for development of a memorial complex for Bhopal gas tragedy victims at the site of Union Carbide". In 2011, a conference was held on the site, with participants from European universities which was aimed for the same.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bhopal2011.in/publication.php#c |title=Bhopal 2011 – landscapes of memory |publisher=SpaceMatters, India with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) |editor= Amritha Ballal |editor2=Jan af Geijerstam}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Curating a Bhopal People's Movement: An Opportunity for Indian Museums |journal=Curator: The Museum Journal |author=Lakshmi R |date=9 January 2012 |doi=10.1111/j.2151-6952.2011.00119.x |volume=55 |pages=35–50}}</ref>
-->
===Occupational and habitation rehabilitation===
<!--
33 of the 50 planned work-sheds for gas victims started. All except one was closed down by 1992. 1986, the MP government invested in the Special Industrial Area Bhopal. 152 of the planned 200 work sheds were built and in 2000, 16 were partially functioning. It was estimated that 50,000 persons need alternative jobs, and that less than 100 gas victims had found regular employment under the government's scheme. The government also planned 2,486 flats in two- and four-story buildings in what is called the "widow's colony" outside Bhopal. The water did not reach the upper floors and it was not possible to keep cattle which were their primary occupation. Infrastructure like buses, schools, etc. were missing for at least a decade.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
-->
===Economic rehabilitation===
<!--
Immediate relieves were decided two days after the tragedy. Relief measures commenced in 1985 when food was distributed for a short period along with ration cards.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> [[Madhya Pradesh]] government's finance department allocated {{INRConvert|874|m}} for victim relief in July 1985.<ref name="India1985_1">{{cite book|author=Press Institute of India|title=Data India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn9DAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=1 August 2012|year=1985|publisher=Press Institute of India|page=166}}</ref><ref name="India1985_2">{{cite book|author=Press Institute of India|title=Data India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn9DAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=1 August 2012|year=1985|publisher=Press Institute of India|page=322}}</ref> Widow pension of {{INRConvert|200}}/per month (later {{INRConvert|750}}) were provided. The government also decided to pay {{INRConvert|1500}} to families with monthly income {{INRConvert|500}} or less. As a result of the interim relief, more children were able to attend school, more money was spent on treatment and food, and housing also eventually improved. From 1990 interim relief of {{INRConvert|200}} was paid to everyone in the family who was born before the disaster.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
The final compensation, including interim relief for personal injury was for the majority {{INRConvert|25|k}}. For death claim, the average sum paid out was {{INRConvert|62|k}}. Each claimant were to be categorised by a doctor. In court, the claimants were expected to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that death or injury in each case was attributable to exposure. In 1992, 44 percent of the claimants still had to be medically examined.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
By the end of October 2003, according to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, compensation had been awarded to 554,895 people for injuries received and 15,310 survivors of those killed. The average amount to families of the dead was $2,200.<ref name="broughton" />
 
In 2007, 1,029,517 cases were registered and decided. Number of awarded cases were 574,304 and number of rejected cases 455,213. Total compensation awarded was {{INRConvert|15465|m}}.<ref name="GovMP">{{cite web |title=Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department |publisher=Government of Madhya Pradesh|accessdate=30 August 2012|date=5 December 2008 |url=http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/}}</ref> On 24 June 2010, the [[Union Cabinet]] of the [[Government of India]] approved a {{INRConvert|12650|m}} aid package which would be funded by Indian taxpayers through the government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bhopal-gas-tragedy-extra-aid-to-help-just-42000-victims_1400833 |title=Bhopal gas tragedy: Extra aid to help just 42,000 victims&nbsp;— India&nbsp;— DNA |publisher=DNA news |date=24 June 2010 |accessdate=28 August 2012|first=Anil|last=Anand}}</ref>
-->
===Other impacts===
<!--
In 1985, [[Henry Waxman]], a California Democrat, called for a U.S. government inquiry into the Bhopal disaster, which resulted in U.S. legislation regarding the accidental release of toxic chemicals in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|title=BP, Bhopal and the humble Indian brinjal|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/BP-Bhopal-and-the-humble-Indian-brinjal/Article1-561254.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125081836/http://www.hindustantimes.com/BP-Bhopal-and-the-humble-Indian-brinjal/Article1-561254.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 January 2013|accessdate=26 June 2010|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=22 June 2010|author=Dipankar De Sarkar}}</ref>
-->
==Causes==
<!--
There are two main lines of argument involving the disaster.
The "Corporate Negligence" point of view argues that the disaster was caused by a potent combination of under-maintained and decaying facilities, a weak attitude towards safety, and an undertrained workforce, culminating in worker actions that inadvertently enabled water to penetrate the MIC tanks in the absence of properly working safeguards.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" />
 
The "Worker Sabotage" point of view argues that it was not physically possible for the water to enter the tank without concerted human effort, and that extensive testimony and engineering analysis leads to a conclusion that water entered the tank when a rogue individual employee hooked a water hose directly to an empty valve on the side of the tank. This point of view further argues that the Indian government took extensive actions to hide this possibility in order to attach blame to UCC.<ref name="Kalelkar1988" />
 
Theories differ as to how the water entered the tank. At the time, workers were cleaning out a clogged pipe with water about 400 feet from the tank. They claimed that they were not told to isolate the tank with a pipe slip-blind plate. The operators assumed that owing to bad maintenance and leaking valves, it was possible for the water to leak into the tank.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Chouhan"/>
 
This water entry route could not be reproduced despite strenuous efforts by motivated parties.<ref name="Weisman NYT Dec 1985 p.5">{{cite news|author=Steven R. Weisman|title=Bhopal a Year Later: An Eerie Silence|newspaper=The New York Times|date=5 December 1985|page=5}}</ref> UCC claims that a "disgruntled worker" deliberately connecting a hose to a pressure gauge connection was the real cause.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Kalelkar1988" />
 
Early the next morning, a UCIL manager asked the instrument engineer to replace the gauge. UCIL's investigation team found no evidence of the necessary connection; the investigation was totally controlled by the government, denying UCC investigators access to the tank or interviews with the operators.<ref name="Kalelkar1988" /><ref name="tradeunion1985" />
-->
===Corporate negligence===
<!--
This point of view argues that management (and to some extent, local government) underinvested in safety, which allowed for a dangerous working environment to develop. Factors cited include the filling of the MIC tanks beyond recommended levels, poor maintenance after the plant ceased MIC production at the end of 1984, allowing several safety systems to be inoperable due to poor maintenance, and switching off safety systems to save money— including the MIC tank refrigeration system which could have mitigated the disaster severity, and non-existent catastrophe management plans.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /> Other factors identified by government inquiries included undersized safety devices and the dependence on manual operations.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> Specific plant management deficiencies that were identified include the lack of skilled operators, reduction of safety management, insufficient maintenance, and inadequate emergency action plans.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2006"/>
-->
====Underinvestment====
<!--
Underinvestment is cited as contributing to an environment. In attempts to reduce expenses, $1.25 million of cuts were placed upon the plant which affected the factory's employees and their conditions.<ref name=":8" /> Kurzman argues that "cuts&nbsp;... meant less stringent quality control and thus looser safety rules. A pipe leaked? Don't replace it, employees said they were told&nbsp;... MIC workers needed more training? They could do with less. Promotions were halted, seriously affecting employee morale and driving some of the most skilled&nbsp;... elsewhere".<ref name="Kurzman1987">Kurzman (1987).</ref> Workers were forced to use English manuals, even though only a few had a grasp of the language.<ref name="Chouhan">{{cite book |author=Chouhan TR |origyear=1994|year=2004 |title=Bhopal: the Inside Story — Carbide Workers Speak Out on the World's Worst Industrial Disaster. |location=US and India |publisher=The Apex Press and Other India Press |id= and |display-authors=etal|isbn=978-1-891843-30-3}}</ref><ref name="Cassels">Cassels (1983).</ref>
 
Subsequent research highlights a gradual deterioration of safety practices in regard to the MIC, which had become less relevant to plant operations. By 1984, only six of the original twelve operators were still working with MIC and the number of supervisory personnel had also been halved. No maintenance supervisor was placed on the night shift and instrument readings were taken every two hours, rather than the previous and required one-hour readings.<ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name="Kurzman1987" /> Workers made complaints about the cuts through their union but were ignored. One employee was fired after going on a 15-day hunger strike. 70% of the plant's employees were fined before the disaster for refusing to deviate from the proper safety regulations under pressure from the management.<ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name="Kurzman1987" />
 
In addition, some observers, such as those writing in the Trade Environmental Database (TED) Case Studies as part of the Mandala Project from [[American University]], have pointed to "serious communication problems and management gaps between Union Carbide and its Indian operation", characterised by "the parent {{sic|companies}} hands-off approach to its overseas operation" and "cross-cultural barriers".<ref name="TED">Mandala Project (1996), Trade Environmental Database (TED) Case Study 233. Volume 5, Number 1, January 1996 {{cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/TED/bhopal.htm |title=American University, Washington, D.C |accessdate=6 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101080203/http://www1.american.edu/TED/bhopal.htm |archivedate=1 November 2015 }}</ref>
-->
====Adequacy of equipment and regulations====
<!--
The factory was not well equipped to handle the gas created by the sudden addition of water to the MIC tank. The MIC tank alarms had not been working for four years and there was only one manual back-up system, compared to a four-stage system used in the United States.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name=Eckerman2001/><ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name=Lepowski /> The flare tower and several vent gas scrubbers had been out of service for five months before the disaster. Only one gas scrubber was operating: it could not treat such a large amount of MIC with [[sodium hydroxide]] (caustic soda), which would have brought the concentration down to a safe level.<ref name=Lepowski/> The flare tower could only handle a quarter of the gas that leaked in 1984, and moreover it was out of order at the time of the incident.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name=Weir>Weir (1987).</ref> To reduce energy costs, the refrigeration system was idle. The MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius, not the 4.5 degrees advised by the manual.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name=Lepowski/> Even the steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes, was non-operational for unknown reasons.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name="Lepowski" /> Slip-blind plates that would have prevented water from pipes being cleaned from leaking into the MIC tanks, had the valves been faulty, were not installed and their installation had been omitted from the cleaning checklist.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" /> As MIC is water-soluble, [[deluge gun]]s were in place to contain escaping gases from the stack. The water pressure was too weak for the guns to spray high enough to reach the gas which would have reduced the concentration of escaping gas significantly.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name="Lepowski">Lepowski</ref> In addition to it, carbon steel valves were used at the factory, even though they were known to corrode when exposed to acid.<ref name="Kovel" />
 
According to the operators, the MIC tank pressure gauge had been malfunctioning for roughly a week. Other tanks were used, rather than repairing the gauge. The build-up in temperature and pressure is believed to have affected the magnitude of the gas release.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name="Lepowski" /> UCC admitted in their own investigation report that most of the safety systems were not functioning on the night of 3 December 1984.<ref name="UCC1985">{{cite book |title=Bhopal Methyl Isocyanate Incident. Investigation Team Report |location=Danbury, CT |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |year=1985}}</ref> The design of the MIC plant, following government guidelines, was "Indianized" by UCIL engineers to maximise the use of indigenous materials and products. Mumbai-based Humphreys and Glasgow Consultants Pvt. Ltd., were the main consultants, [[Larsen & Toubro]] fabricated the MIC storage tanks, and Taylor of India Ltd. provided the instrumentation.<ref name=D>D'Silva, The Black Box of Bhopal (2006).</ref> In 1998, during civil action suits in India, it emerged that the plant was not prepared for problems. No action plans had been established to cope with incidents of this magnitude. This included not informing local authorities of the quantities or dangers of chemicals used and manufactured at Bhopal.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="Kovel" /><ref name="Eckerman2001" /><ref name="Chouhan" />
-->
====Safety audits====
<!--
Safety audits were done every year in the US and European UCC plants, but only every two years in other parts of the world.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="varadarajan1985" /> Before a "Business Confidential" safety audit by UCC in May 1982, the senior officials of the corporation were well aware of "a total of 61 hazards, 30 of them major and 11 minor in the dangerous phosgene/methyl isocyanate units" in Bhopal.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Bhopal Gas Tragedy 1984-? A report from the Sambhavna Trust, Bhopal, India |year=1998 |publisher=Bhopal People's Health and Documentation clinic}}</ref> In the audit 1982, it was indicated that worker performance was below standards.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="tradeunion1985" /> Ten major concerns were listed.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> UCIL prepared an action plan, but UCC never sent a follow-up team to Bhopal. Many of the items in the 1982 report were temporarily fixed, but by 1984, conditions had again deteriorated.<ref name="tradeunion1985" /> In September 1984, an internal UCC report on the West Virginia plant in the USA revealed a number of defects and malfunctions. It warned that "a runaway reaction could occur in the MIC unit storage tanks, and that the planned response would not be timely or effective enough to prevent catastrophic failure of the tanks". This report was never forwarded to the Bhopal plant, although the main design was the same.<ref name="Lapierre">{{cite book |title=It Was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal |authors=Lapierre D, Moro J |year=2001 |publisher=Full Circle Publishing |location=New Delhi}}</ref>
-->
====Impossibility of the "negligence"====
<!--
According to the "Corporate Negligence" argument, workers had been cleaning out pipes with water nearby. This water was diverted due to a combination of improper maintenance, leaking and clogging, and eventually ended up in the MIC storage tank. Indian scientists also suggested that additional water might have been introduced as a "back-flow" from a defectively designed vent-gas scrubber. None of these theoretical routes of entry were ever successfully demonstrated during tests by the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]] (CBI) and UCIL engineers.<ref name="Chouhan" /><ref name="tradeunion1985">[http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/documentlibrary/unionreport1985.html The Trade Union Report on Bhopal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715082437/http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/documentlibrary/unionreport1985.html |date=15 July 2009 }}, Geneva, Switzerland: ICFTU-ICEF, 1985</ref><ref name="varadarajan1985">{{cite book|author=Varadarajan S |title=Report on Scientific Studies on the Factors Related to Bhopal Toxic Gas Leakage |publisher=Indian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research |location=New Delhi |year=1985|url=https://bhopalgasdisaster.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/csir-report-on-scientific-studies-december-1985.pdf|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name="UCCreport1985">{{cite book |title=Bhopal Methyl Isocyanate Incident |year=1985 |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |location=Danbury, CT}}</ref>
 
A Union Carbide commissioned analysis conducted by [[Arthur D. Little]] claims that the Negligence argument was impossible for several tangible reasons:<ref name="Kalelkar1988" />
# The pipes being used by the nearby workers were only 1/2 inch in diameter and were physically incapable of producing enough hydraulic pressure to raise water the more than 10 feet that would have been necessary to enable the water to "backflow" into the MIC tank.
# A key intermediate valve would have had to be open for the Negligence argument to apply. This valve was "tagged" closed, meaning that it had been inspected and found to be closed. While it is possible for open valves to clog over time, the only way a closed valve allows penetration is if there is leakage, and 1985 tests carried out by the government of India found this valve to be non-leaking.
# In order for water to have reached the MIC tank from the pipe-cleaning area, it would have had to flow through a significant network of pipes ranging from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, before rising ten feet and flowing into the MIC tank. Had this occurred, most of the water that was in those pipes at the time the tank had its critical reaction would have remained in those pipes, as there was no drain for them. Investigation by the Indian government in 1985 revealed that the pipes were bone dry.
-->
===Employee sabotage===
<!--
Now owned by [[Dow Chemical Company]], Union Carbide maintains a website dedicated to the tragedy and claims that the incident was the result of sabotage, stating that sufficient safety systems were in place and operative to prevent the intrusion of water.<ref name="ucs">{{cite web |title=Statement of Union Carbide Corporation Regarding the Bhopal Tragedy |url=http://www.bhopal.com/union-carbide-statements |publisher=Bhopal Information Center |accessdate=30 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904032258/http://www.bhopal.com/union-carbide-statements |archivedate=4 September 2012 }}</ref>
 
The Union Carbide-commissioned Arthur D. Little report concluded that it was likely that a single employee secretly and deliberately introduced a large amount of water into the MIC tank by removing a meter and connecting a water hose directly to the tank through the metering port.<ref name="Kalelkar1988">{{cite book |title=Investigation of Large-magnitude Incidents: Bhopal as a Case Study |url=http://bhopal.bard.edu/resources/research.php?action=getfile&id=180633 |vauthors=Kalelkar AS, Little AD |year=1988 |location=London |publisher=Presented at the Institution of Chemical Engineers conference on preventing major chemical accidents. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208044210/http://bhopal.bard.edu/resources/research.php?action=getfile&id=180633 |archivedate=8 December 2015 }}</ref>
 
UCC claims the plant staff falsified numerous records to distance themselves from the incident and absolve themselves of blame, and that the Indian government impeded its investigation and declined to prosecute the employee responsible, presumably because it would weaken its allegations of negligence by Union Carbide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bhopal.com/faq.htm |title=Frequently Asked Questions |date=November 2009 |work=Bhopal Information Center |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |accessdate=4 April 2010 |quote=The Indian authorities are well aware of the identity of the employee [who sabotaged the plant] and the nature of the evidence against him. Indian authorities refused to pursue this individual because they, as litigants, were not interested in proving that anyone other than Union Carbide was to blame for the tragedy. |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408133152/http://www.bhopal.com/faq.htm |archivedate=8 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
The evidence in favor of this point of view includes:
# A key witness (the "tea boy") testified that when he entered the control room at 12:15 am, prior to the disaster, the "atmosphere was tense and quiet".
# Another key witness (the "instrument supervisor") testified that when he arrived at the scene immediately following the incident, he noticed that the local pressure indicator on the critical Tank 610 was missing, and that he had found a hose lying next to the empty manhead created by the missing pressure indicator, and that the hose had had water running out of it. (This testimony was corroborated by other witnesses.)
# Graphological analysis revealed major attempts to alter logfiles and destroy log evidence.
# Other logfiles show that the control team had attempted to purge 1 ton of material out of Tank 610 immediately prior to the disaster. An attempt was then made to cover up this transfer via log alteration. Water is heavier than MIC, and the transfer line is attached to the bottom of the tank. The Arthur D. Little report concludes from this that the transfer was an effort to transfer water out of Tank 610 that had been discovered there.
# A third key witness (the "off-duty employee of another unit") stated that "he had been told by a close friend of one of the MIC operators that water had entered through a tube that had been connected to the tank." This had been discovered by the other MIC operators (so the story was recounted) who then tried to open and close valves to prevent the release.
# A fourth key witness (the "operator from a different unit") stated that after the release, two MIC operators had told him that water had entered the tank through a pressure gauge.
 
The Little report argues that this evidence demonstrates that the following chronology took place:
* At 10:20pm, the tank was at normal pressure, indicating the absence of water.
* At 10:45pm, a shift change took place, after which the MIC storage area "would be completely deserted". During this period, a "disgruntled operator entered the storage area and hooked up one of the readily available rubber water hoses to Tank 610, with the intention of contaminating and spoiling the tank's contents."
* Water began to flow, beginning the chemical reaction that caused the disaster.
* After midnight, control room operators noticed the pressure rising and realized there was a problem with Tank 610. They discovered the water connection, and decided to transfer one ton of the contents out to try and remove the water. The MIC release then occurred.
* The cover-up activities discovered during the investigation then took place.
* After over 30 years, in November 2017, S. P. Choudhary, former MIC production manager, claimed in court that the disaster was not an accident but the result of a sabotage that claimed thousands of lives.
Chaudry's counsel, Anirban Roy, argued that the theory of design defects was floated by the central government in its endeavour to protect the victims of the tragedy. Everyone else who was part of investigations into the case "just toed the line of the central government.... The government and the CBI suppressed the actual truth and saved the real perpetrators of the crime."<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=21 July 2016|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/bhopal-gas-tragedy-not-an-accident-but-sabotage-says-convicted-ucil-official/story-Q87kJ40p7pKS9sJd5udlmI.html|title=gas tradegy not an accident but sabotage, says convicted UCIL official}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|website=[[Times of India]]|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Gas-tragedy-Counsel-cries-sabotage/articleshow/54504407.cms|title=Gas tragedy Counsel cries sabotage}}</ref>
Roy argued to the district court that disgruntled plant operator M. L. Verma was behind the sabotage because he was unhappy with senior management.
The counsel argued that there were discrepancies in the statements given by persons who were operating the plant at that time but the central agency chose not to investigate the case properly because it always wanted to prove that it was a mishap, and not sabotage. He alleged that Verma was unhappy with Chaudhary and Mukund.<ref>{{Cite web |website=[[Indian Express]] |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/bhopal-gas-tragedy-dow-chemical-1984-gas-tragedy-trial-madhya-pradesh-union-carbide-india-limited-4936270/ |title= Bhopal Gas tragedy: In court, defence names former employee as 'saboteur'|date=13 November 2017 }}</ref>
-->
==Additional Union Carbide actions==
<!--
The corporation denied the claim that the valves on the tank were malfunctioning, and claimed that the documented evidence gathered after the incident showed that the valve close to the plant's water-washing operation was closed and was leak-tight. Furthermore, process safety systems had prevented water from entering the tank by accident. Carbide states that the safety concerns identified in 1982 were all allayed before 1984 and had nothing to do with the incident.<ref name="faq">{{cite web |url=http://www.bhopal.com/faq.htm |publisher=Bhopal Information Center, UCC |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408133152/http://www.bhopal.com/faq.htm |archivedate=8 April 2010 }}</ref>
 
The company admitted that the safety systems in place would not have been able to prevent a chemical reaction of that magnitude from causing a leak. According to Carbide, "in designing the plant's safety systems, a chemical reaction of this magnitude was not factored in" because "the tank's gas storage system was designed to automatically prevent such a large amount of water from being inadvertently introduced into the system" and "process safety systems—in place and operational—would have prevented water from entering the tank by accident". Instead, they claim that "employee sabotage—not faulty design or operation—was the cause of the tragedy".<ref name="faq" />
 
'''Tactical response'''
 
The company stresses the immediate action taken after the disaster and its continued commitment to helping the victims. On 4 December, the day following the leak, Union Carbide sent material aid and several international medical experts to assist the medical facilities in Bhopal.<ref name="faq" />
 
'''Financial response'''
 
The primary financial restitution paid by UCC was negotiated in 1989, when the Indian Supreme Court approved a settlement of US$470 million (₹1,055 crore; equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|470000000|1989}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}} This amount was immediately paid by UCC to the Indian government. The company states that the restitution paid "was $120 million more than plaintiffs' lawyers had told U.S. courts was fair" and that the Indian Supreme Court stated in its opinion that "compensation levels under the settlement were far greater than would normally be payable under Indian law."<ref name="irs" />
 
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Union Carbide states on its website that it put $2 million into the Indian prime minister's immediate disaster relief fund on 11 December 1984.<ref name="faq" /> The corporation established the Employees' Bhopal Relief Fund in February 1985, which raised more than {{Nowrap|$5 million}} for immediate relief.<ref name="chrono">{{cite web|publisher=Bhopal Information Center, UCC |title=Chronology |accessdate=30 August 2012 |url=http://www.bhopal.com/chrono.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010924010814/http://www.bhopal.com/chrono.htm |archivedate=24 September 2001 }}</ref> According to Union Carbide, in August 1987, they made an additional {{Nowrap|$4.6 million}} in humanitarian interim relief available.<ref name="chrono" />
 
Union Carbide stated that it also undertook several steps to provide continuing aid to the victims of the Bhopal disaster. The sale of its 50.9 percent interest in UCIL in April 1992 and establishment of a charitable trust to contribute to the building of a local hospital. The sale was finalised in November 1994. The hospital was begun in October 1995 and was opened in 2001. The company provided a fund with around {{Nowrap|$90 million}} from sale of its UCIL stock. In 1991, the trust had amounted approximately {{Nowrap|$100 million}}. The hospital catered for the treatment of heart, lung and eye problems.<ref name="ucs" /> UCC also provided a $2.2 million grant to [[Arizona State University]] to establish a vocational-technical center in Bhopal, which was opened, but was later closed by the state government.<ref name="irs">{{cite web |url=http://www.bhopal.com/irs.htm |publisher=Bhopal Information Center, UCC |title=Incident Response and Settlement |accessdate=30 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103235052/http://www.bhopal.com/irs.htm |archivedate=3 January 2011 }}</ref> They also donated $5 million to the [[Indian Red Cross]] after the disaster.<ref name="irs" /> They also developed a [[Responsible Care]] system with other members of the chemical industry as a response to the Bhopal crisis, which was designed to help prevent such an event in the future.<ref name="chrono" />
-->
===Charges against UCC and UCIL employees===
<!--
UCC chairman and CEO Warren Anderson was arrested and released on bail by the Madhya Pradesh Police in Bhopal on 7 December 1984. Anderson was taken to UCC's house after which he was released six hours later on $2,100 bail and flown out on a government plane. These actions were allegedly taken under the direction of then chief secretary of the state, who was possibly instructed from chief minister's office, who himself flew out of Bhopal immediately.<ref name="Escapes on Bhopal disaster 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.thebhopalpost.com/index.php/2012/07/when-the-gas-leaked-arjun-flew-away-to-pray/|title=When the gas leaked, Arjun flew away to pray|publisher=The Bhopal Post| date=7 July 2012|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="Escapes on Bhopal disaster 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120704/jsp/nation/story_15688988.jsp#.UBj6JmHaabs |title=When the gas leaked, Arjun flew away to pray|work=The Telegraph|date=3 July 2012|first=Rasheed |last=Kidwai|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="Escapes on Bhopal disaster 3">{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-06-10/india/28318396_1_warren-anderson-state-plane-chief-secretary|first=Suchandana|last=Gupta|title=Chief secretary told me to let Anderson go: Ex- Collector|work=The Times of India|date=10 June 2010|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref> Later in 1987, the [[Indian government]] summoned Anderson, eight other executives and two company affiliates with [[homicide]] charges to appear in Indian court.<ref name="nytimes88">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/17/business/india-acts-in-carbide-case.html|title=India Acts in Carbide Case|work=The New York Times|date=17 May 1988|accessdate=30 August 2012|agency=Reuters}}</ref> In response, Union Carbide said the company is not under Indian jurisdiction.<ref name="nytimes88" />
 
From 2014, Dow is a named respondent in a number of ongoing cases arising from Union Carbide's business in Bhopal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bhopal.org/the-dow-chemical-companys-bhopal-related-legal-liabilities/ |title=The Dow Chemical Company's Bhopal related legal liabilities |accessdate=25 September 2015|work=The Bhopal Medical Appeal}}</ref>
-->
==Ongoing contamination==
<!--
[[File:Bhopal-Union Carbide 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Deteriorating section of the MIC plant, decades after the gas leak.|alt=A view of MIC plant surrounded by few metal pipes]]
Chemicals abandoned at the plant continue to leak and pollute the [[groundwater]].<ref name=broughton>{{cite journal |last1=Broughton |first1=Edward |year=2005 |title=The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review |journal=Environmental Health |volume=4 |issue=6 |doi=10.1186/1476-069X-4-6 |page=6 |pmid=15882472 |pmc=1142333 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC |title=No takers for Bhopal toxic waste |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7569891.stm | date=30 September 2008 | accessdate=1 January 2010 |first=KS |last=Shaini| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203053205/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7569891.stm| archivedate= 3 December 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chander |first1=J. |year=2001 |title=Water contamination: a legacy of the union carbide disaster in Bhopal, India |journal=Int J Occup Environ Health |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=72–3 |pmid=11210017 |doi=10.1179/107735201800339696}}</ref><ref name=ram2012>{{cite thesis |title=A Deterministic and Probabilistic Analyses of the Carbon Tetrachloride Contaminant Plume in Groundwater at the Former Union Carbide India Limited Factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India |author=Ram VS |year=2012 |publisher=Rollins School of Public Health }}</ref> Whether the chemicals pose a health hazard is disputed.<ref name="msnbc">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/34247132|title=Industrial Disaster Still Haunts India|work=MSN|date=2 December 2009|accessdate=3 December 2009}}</ref> Contamination at the site and surrounding area was not caused by the gas leakage. The area around the plant was used as a dumping ground for hazardous chemicals and by 1982 water wells in the vicinity of the UCIL factory had to be abandoned.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> UCC states that "after the incident, UCIL began clean-up work at the site under the direction of Indian central and state government authorities", which was continued after 1994 by the successor to UCIL. The successor, Eveready Industries India, Limited (EIIL), ended cleanup 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.<ref name="chrono" /><ref name="ucs" />
 
UCC's laboratory tests in 1989 revealed that soil and water samples collected from near the factory were toxic to fish. Twenty-one areas inside the plant were reported to be highly polluted. In 1991 the municipal authorities declared that water from over 100 wells was hazardous for health if used for drinking.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> In 1994 it was reported that 21% of the factory premises were seriously contaminated with chemicals.<ref name="UCC1989" /><ref name="Labunska">Labunska et al. (2003).</ref><ref name="down">Down to Earth (2003).</ref> Beginning in 1999, studies made by [[Greenpeace]] and others from soil, groundwater, [[Water well|well water]] and vegetables from the residential areas around UCIL and from the UCIL factory area show contamination with a range of toxic heavy metals and chemical compounds. Substances found, according to the reports, are [[1-Naphthol|naphthol]], [[naphthalene]], Sevin, tarry residues, [[1-naphthol|alpha naphthol]], mercury, [[organochlorines]], [[chromium]], copper, nickel, lead, hexachlorethane, [[hexachlorobutadiene]], pesticide HCH ([[Hexachlorocyclohexane|BHC]]), [[volatile organic compound]]s and halo-organics.<ref name="Labunska" /><ref name="down" /><ref name="stringer">Stringer et al. (2002).</ref><ref name="srishti">Srishti (2002).</ref> Many of these contaminants were also found in breast milk of women living near the area.<ref name=BMA />
Soil tests were conducted by Greenpeace in 1999. One sample (IT9012) from "sediment collected from drain under former Sevin plant" showed mercury levels to be at "20,000 and {{Nowrap|6 million}} times" higher than expected levels. Organochlorine compounds at elevated levels were also present in groundwater collected from (sample IT9040) a 4.4 meter depth "bore-hole within the former UCIL site". This sample was obtained from a source posted with a warning sign which read "Water unfit for consumption".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Environmental%20Health/Greenpeace%20Bhopal%20Report.pdf |author1=Labunska I |author2=Stephenson A |author3=Brigden K |author4=Stringer R |author5=Santillo D |author6=Johnston P.A. |year=1999 |title=The Bhopal Legacy. Toxic contaminants at the former Union Carbide factory site, Bhopal, India: 15 years after the Bhopal accident |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030121733/http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Environmental%20Health/Greenpeace%20Bhopal%20Report.pdf |archivedate=30 October 2008 }}Greenpeace Research Laboratories, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter UK</ref>
Chemicals that have been linked to various forms of cancer were also discovered, as well as [[trichloroethylene]], known to impair fetal development, at 50 times above safety limits specified by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA).<ref name="BMA">{{cite web |accessdate= 30 August 2012|work=bhopal.org|url=http://www.bhopal.org/what-happened/|publisher=The Bhopal Medical Appeal |title=What Happened in Bhopal?}}</ref> In 2002, an inquiry by Fact-Finding Mission on Bhopal found a number of toxins, including [[mercury (element)|mercury]], lead, 1,3,5 [[trichlorobenzene]], [[dichloromethane]] and [[chloroform]], in nursing women's breast milk.
 
A 2004 [[BBC Radio 5 Live|BBC Radio 5]] broadcast reported the site is contaminated with toxic chemicals including [[hexachlorocyclohexane|benzene hexachloride]] and [[mercury (element)|mercury]], held in open containers or loose on the ground.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|last=Vickers|first=Paul|title=Bhopal 'faces risk of poisoning'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4010511.stm|accessdate=30 August 2012|newspaper=BBC news|date=4 November 2004}}</ref> A drinking water sample from a well near the site had levels of contamination 500 times higher than the maximum limits recommended by the [[World Health Organization]].<ref name="BBC Radio 5 website">{{cite news |publisher=BBC Radio 5 website |title=Bhopal 'faces risk of poisoning' |date=14 November 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4010511.stm | accessdate=1 January 2010 |first=Paul |last=Vickers| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091206195559/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4010511.stm| archivedate= 6 December 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, the [[Centre for Science and Environment]], a Delhi-based pollution monitoring lab, released test results showing pesticide groundwater contamination up to three kilometres from the factory.<ref>{{cite web | title=Bhopal, a toxic legacy | url=http://www.cseindia.org/content/bhopal-a-toxic-legacy | location=Bhopal | date=1 December 2009 | publisher=CSE India | accessdate=30 August 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901042823/http://www.cseindia.org/content/bhopal-a-toxic-legacy | archivedate=1 September 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Also in 2009, the BBC took a water sample from a frequently used hand pump, located just north of the plant. The sample, tested in UK, was found to contain 1,000 times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum amount of carbon tetrachloride, a [[carcinogen]]<nowiki/>ic toxin.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8392206.stm|title=Bhopal marks 25 years since gas leak devastation|date= 3 December 2009|work=BBC News | accessdate=1 January 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091206144624/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8392206.stm| archivedate= 6 December 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref>
 
In 2010, a British photojournalist who ventured into the abandoned [[Union Carbide]] factory to investigate allegations of abandoned, leaking toxins, was hospitalized in Bhopal for a week after he was exposed to the chemicals. Doctors at the [[Sambhavna clinic|Sambhavna Clinic]] treated him with oxygen, painkillers and anti-inflammatories following a severe respiratory reaction to toxic dust inside the factory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bhopal.org/bhopal-now-the-enduring-tragedy/|title=Bhopal Now: The Enduring Tragedy|last=|first=|date=|website=bhopal.org|language=en-GB|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/15480253|title=Interview: Jack Laurenson in Bhopal|last=Twilton|first=Richard|date=|website=Vimeo|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref>
 
In October 2011, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment published an article and video by two British environmental scientists, showing the current state of the plant, landfill and solar evaporation ponds and calling for renewed international efforts to provide the necessary skills to clean up the site and contaminated groundwater.<ref name="the environmentalist October 2011">{{cite news|first= A|last= Tinsley|author2= Ansell R|title= Bhopal's never ending disaster|date= 22 October 2011|url= http://www.environmentalistonline.com/article/2011-10-13/bhopal-s-never-ending-disaster#Video|work= The environmentalist|accessdate= 14 December 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111206000900/http://www.environmentalistonline.com/article/2011-10-13/bhopal-s-never-ending-disaster#Video|archive-date= 6 December 2011|url-status= dead}}</ref>
-->
==জনপ্ৰিয় সংস্কৃতি==
 
===উপন্যাস===
<!--
[[Amulya Malladi]]'s 2002 novel ''A Breath of Fresh Air'' relates the story of a mother and son who develop health issues as a result of exposure to gas at Bhopal. The book is based on Malladi's recollections of Bhopal during the incident.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Athitakis|first1=Mark|title=A Breath of Fresh Air|url=http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/a-breath-of-fresh-air/Content?oid=2145552|publisher=San Francisco Weekly|date=31 July 2002}}</ref>
 
[[Indra Sinha]] released ''[[Animal's People]]'' in 2007. The novel tells the story of a boy who is born with a spinal condition due to effects of the gas. The book was shortlisted for the [[Man Booker Prize]].
 
[[Arundhati Roy]]'s 2017 novel ''[[The Ministry of Utmost Happiness]]'' which deals with many contemporary political issues in India, also features several characters still dealing with the aftermath of the gas leak.<ref>{{cite book|first=Arundhati|last=Roy|title=The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|page=135|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]]|year=2017|title-link=The Ministry of Utmost Happiness}}</ref>
 
[[Annie Murray (writer)|Annie Murray]]'s novel ''Mother and Child'' (2019) is partly set in post-disaster Bhopal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.anniemurray.co.uk/news/mother-and-child|title=Mother and Child|publisher=Annie Murray|id= |accessdate=14 November 2019}}</ref>
-->
===সংগীত===
<!--
* [[B. Dolan]] - ''RSVP'' (aka "Lucifer")
* [[Renaud]] - ''Morts les enfants''
* [[Revolting Cocks]] - ''Union Carbide''
-->
===চিনেমা===
<!--
In 1999, a Hindi film dealing with the tragedy, ''[[Bhopal Express (film)|Bhopal Express]]'', was released. The film stars [[Kay Kay Menon]] and [[Naseeruddin Shah]].
 
In 2014, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the disaster, historical-drama ''[[Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain]]'' was released, starring [[Martin Sheen]] as Union Carbide CEO [[Warren Anderson (American businessman)|Warren Anderson]], [[Kal Penn]], and [[Mischa Barton]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-bhopal-prayer-for-rain-review-20141114-story.html |author=Martin Tsai |title=Review 'Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain' an effective cautionary tale |work=Los Angeles Times |date=13 November 2014}}</ref>
-->
==Activism==
<!--
Since 1984, individual activists have played a role in the aftermath of the tragedy. The best-known is [[Satinath Sarangi]] (Sathyu), a [[Metallurgic engineering|metallurgic engineer]] who arrived at Bhopal the day after the leakage. He founded several activist groups, as well as [[Sambhavna Trust]], the clinic for gas affected patients, where he is the manager.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> Other activists include Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, who received the [[Goldman Prize]] in 2004, Abdul Jabbar and [[Rachna Dhingra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldmanprize.org/2004/Asia|title=Rashida Bee & Champa Devi Shukla|work=Goldman Environmental Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anindianmuslim.com/2009/12/crusader-for-victims-truth-of-bhopal.html |title=An Indian Muslim's Blog: News, Views & Urdu Poetry Website: Crusader for Victims: The Truth of Bhopal Gas Tragedy and its Aftermath-Part III |publisher=Anindianmuslim.com |date=9 December 2009 |accessdate=25 October 2012}}</ref>
-->
===Local activism===
<!--
[[File:Dow Chemical banner, Bhopal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Protest in Bhopal in 2010]]
Soon after the accident, representatives from different activist groups arrived. The activists worked on organising the gas victims, which led to violent repression from the police and the government.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
Numerous actions have been performed: demonstrations, sit-ins, [[hunger strikes]]<nowiki/>, marches combined with pamphlets, books, and articles. Every anniversary, actions are performed. Often these include marches around Old Bhopal, ending with burning an [[effigy]] of [[Warren Anderson (American businessman)|Warren Anderson]].
-->
===International activism===
<!--
Cooperation with international NGOs including [http://www.pan-uk.org/ Pesticide Action Network UK] and [http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/toxics/justice-for-bhopal/ Greenpeace] started soon after the tragedy. One of the earliest reports is the Trade Union report from ILO 1985.<ref name="tradeunion1985"/>
 
In 1992, a session of the [[Permanent Peoples' Tribunal]] on Industrial Hazards and Human Rights took place in Bhopal, and in 1996, the [https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/212/45285.html "Charter on Industrial Hazards and Human Rights"] was adopted.
 
In 1994, the [[International Medical Commission on Bhopal]] (IMCB) met in Bhopal. Their work contributed to long-term health effects being officially recognised.
 
Important international actions have been the tour to Europe and United States in 2003,<ref>{{cite web|author=Media release – 23 April 2004 |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/media-center/news-releases/bhopal-victims-warn-u-s-gover/ |title=Bhopal Victims Warn U.S. Government and Dow Chemical of Impending Catastrophe |publisher=Greenpeace |date=23 April 2004 |accessdate=25 October 2012}}</ref> the marches to Delhi in 2006 and 2008, all including hunger strikes, and the Bhopal Europe Bus Tour in 2009.
-->
===Activist organisations===
<!--
[[File:Bhopal Sambhavna Trust 05 (14037592191).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Bhopal People's Health and Documentation Clinic]]
At least 14 different NGOs were immediately engaged.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The first disaster reports were published by activist organisations, [[Eklavya]] and the [[Delhi Science Forum]].
 
Around ten local organisations, engaged on long term, have been identified. Two of the most active organisations are the women's organisations—Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila-Stationery Karmachari Sangh and Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangthan.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
More than 15 national organisations have been engaged along with a number of international organisations.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />
 
Some of the organisations are:
* [[International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal]] (ICJB), coordinates international activities.
* [[Bhopal Medical Appeal]], collects funds for the Sambhavna Trust.
* [[Sambhavna Trust]] or Bhopal People's Health and Documentation Clinic. Provides medical care for gas affected patients and those living in water-contaminated area.
* [[Chingari Trust]], provides medical care for children being born in Bhopal with malformations and brain damages.
* [[Students for Bhopal]], based in USA.
* [[International Medical Commission on Bhopal]], provided medical information 1994–2000.
-->
===Settlement fund hoax===
<!--
On 3 December 2004, the twentieth anniversary of the disaster, a man falsely claiming to be a Dow representative named Jude Finisterra was interviewed on [[BBC World News]]. He claimed that the company had agreed to clean up the site and compensate those harmed in the incident, by liquidating Union Carbide for {{Nowrap|US$12 billion}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dow Does The Right Thing|url=http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/bbcbhopal|publisher=The Yes Men|accessdate=30 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923175638/http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/bbcbhopal|archivedate=23 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dow|url=http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/dow|publisher=The Yes Men|accessdate=30 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810225225/http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/dow|archivedate=10 August 2012}}</ref> Dow quickly issued a statement saying that they had no employee by that name—that he was an impostor, not affiliated with Dow, and that his claims were a hoax. The BBC later broadcast a correction and an apology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=66&ItemID=6795|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216065428/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=66&ItemID=6795|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 December 2004|title=Corporate Responsibility|date=5 December 2004|publisher=Zmag.org|accessdate=28 August 2012}}</ref>
 
Jude Finisterra was actually [[Jacque Servin|Andy Bichlbaum]], a member of the activist prankster group [[The Yes Men]]. In 2002, The Yes Men issued a fake press release explaining why Dow refused to take responsibility for the disaster and started up a website, at "DowEthics.com", designed to look like the real Dow website, but containing hoax information.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/dow/ |title=The Yes Men |publisher=The Yes Men |date=12 May 2005 |accessdate=28 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810225225/http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/dow |archivedate=10 August 2012 }}</ref>
-->
 
===Monitoring of activists===
 
<!--
The [[2012 Stratfor email leak|release of an email cache]] related to intelligence research organisation [[Stratfor]] was leaked by [[WikiLeaks]] on 27 February 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/date/2011.html |title=Wikileaks GI release 2011 |publisher=Wikileaks |accessdate=28 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827105410/https://www.wikileaks.org/gifiles/date/2011.html |archivedate=27 August 2012 }}</ref> It revealed that Dow Chemical had engaged Stratfor to spy on the public and personal lives of activists involved in the Bhopal disaster, including the [[Yes Men]]. E-mails to Dow representatives from hired security analysts list the [[YouTube]] videos liked, Twitter and Facebook posts made and the public appearances of these activists.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/407784_dow-confidential-bhopal-monitoring-report-friday-november-18.html |title=An example email report |publisher=Wikileaks |accessdate=28 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827105932/http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/407784_dow-confidential-bhopal-monitoring-report-friday-november-18.html |archivedate=27 August 2012 }}</ref> Journalists, film-makers and authors who were investigating Bhopal and covering the issue of ongoing contamination, such as Jack Laurenson and Max Carlson, were also placed under surveillance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search.wikileaks.org/gifiles/attach/33/33827_Social%20media%2002-23-11%20BMA%20-%20FB.pdf|title=Wikileaks Stratfor Surveillance|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/39/391344_bhopal-update-03-31-11-media-.html|title=The Global Intelligence Files - Bhopal update - 03-31-11 Media|website=wikileaks.org|language=en|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> Stratfor released a statement condemning the revelation by Wikileaks while neither confirming nor denying the accuracy of the reports, and would only state that it had acted within the bounds of the law. Dow Chemical also refrained to comment on the matter.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=WSJ India Real Time |title=WikiLeaks: Dow Monitored Bhopal Activists |date=29 February 2012 |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/02/29/wikileaks-dow-monitored-bhopal-activists/|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref>
 
Ingrid Eckerman, a member of the [[International Medical Commission on Bhopal]], has been denied a [[Visa (document)|visa]] to visit India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/ingrid-eckerman/pressrelease/view/swedish-doctor-banned-from-india-816057 |title=Swedish doctor banned from India and Bhopal |publisher=MyNewsdesk |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref>
-->
<!--
==See also==
{{Portal|India}}
* [[List of industrial disasters]]
* [[System accident]]
* [[Environmental racism]]
* [[Environmental racism in Europe]]
-->
 
==তথ্যউৎস==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
 
<!--
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |vauthors=Broughton E |title=The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review |journal=Environmental Health |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=6 |doi=10.1186/1476-069X-4-6 |pmid=15882472 |pmc=1142333 |date=10 May 2005 }}
* {{cite book |title=Carbon monoxide, Phosgene and Methyl isocyanate. Unit Safety Procedures Manual}} Union Carbide India Limited, Agricultural Products Division: Bhopal (1978)
* {{cite book |vauthors=Cassels, J |date=1993 |title=The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons From Bhopal |publisher=University of Toronto Press}}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Chouhan TR |origyear=1994|year=2004 |title=Bhopal: the Inside Story – Carbide Workers Speak Out on the World's Worst Industrial Disaster. |location=US and India |publisher=The Apex Press and Other India Press |id= and |display-authors=etal|isbn=978-1-891843-30-3}} Main author Chouhan was an operator at the plant. Contains many technical details.
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jlp.2005.07.025 |url= |author=Chouhan TR |title=The Unfolding of Bhopal Disaster |year=2005 |journal=Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industry| volume= 18| pages= 205–08 |issue=4–6}}
* {{cite journal |vauthors=Dhara VR, Gassert TH |date=September 2005 |title=The Bhopal gas tragedy: Evidence for cyanide poisoning not convincing |journal=Current Science |volume=89 |issue=6 |pages=923–25 |url=http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Toxicology/Current%20Science%20article%20&%20critique/Current%20Science%20critique%20Gassert%20Dhara%20&%20Sriramachari%20response.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030121741/http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Toxicology/Current%20Science%20article%20%26%20critique/Current%20Science%20critique%20Gassert%20Dhara%20%26%20Sriramachari%20response.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 October 2008 }}
* {{cite book |vauthors=D'Silva T |year=2006 |title=The Black Box of Bhopal: A Closer Look at the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/?id=lpcwvvK9xlsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false |isbn=978-1-4120-8412-3 |publisher=Trafford |location=Victoria, BC}} [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/books/85/8528books.html Review] Written by a retired former employee of UCC who was a member of the investigation committee. Includes several original documents including correspondence between UCIL and the Ministries of the Government of India.
* {{cite book |url=http://www.lakareformiljon.org/images/stories/dokument/2009/bhopal_gas_disaster.pdf |title=Chemical Industry and Public Health – Bhopal as an example |vauthors=Eckerman I |year=2001 }} Essay for MPH. A short overview, 57 pages, 82 references.
* {{cite book |vauthors=Eckerman I |title=The Bhopal Saga – Causes and Consequences of the World's Largest Industrial Disaster |url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0FqO8XKy9NRZDNzTkZQeVJQbE0/edit?pli=1 |year=2005 |publisher=Universities Press |location=India |isbn=978-81-7371-515-0 }} [https://books.google.com/books?id=rvn7ybZUo4kC Preview Google books] All known facts 1960s&nbsp;– 2003, systematised and analysed. 283 pages, over 200 references.
* {{cite journal |url=http://www.ttl.fi/en/publications/electronic_journals/asian_pacific_newsletter/archives/Documents/asian_pacific_newsletter2_2006.pdf |title=The Bhopal Disaster 1984&nbsp;– working conditions and the role of the trade unions |vauthors=Eckerman I |journal=Asian Pacific Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety |year=2006 |volume=13 |issue=2 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716021643/http://www.ttl.fi/en/publications/electronic_journals/asian_pacific_newsletter/archives/Documents/asian_pacific_newsletter2_2006.pdf |archivedate=16 July 2011 }}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Eckerman I |chapter=Bhopal Gas Catastrophy 1984: Causes and consequences |veditors=Nriagu JO
|isbn=978-0-444-52272-6 |title=Encyclopedia of Environmental Health |volume=1 |pages=302–16 |location=Burlington |publisher=Elsevier |year=2011 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-444-52272-6.00359-7}}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Eckerman I |chapter=Bhopal Gas Catastrophe 1984: Causes and Consequences |publisher=Elsevier |title=Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences |pages=272–87 |year=2013 |chapter-url= |isbn=978-0-12-409548-9|doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.01903-5 }}
* {{cite journal |url=http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Toxicology/Current%20Science%20article%20&%20critique/Current%20Science%20critique%20Gassert%20Dhara%20&%20Sriramachari%20response.pdf |title=Debate on cyanide poisoning in Bhopal victims |journal=Current Science |date=September 2005 |vauthors=Gassert TH, Dhara VR |volume=89 |issue=6 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030121741/http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Toxicology/Current%20Science%20article%20%26%20critique/Current%20Science%20critique%20Gassert%20Dhara%20%26%20Sriramachari%20response.pdf |archivedate=30 October 2008 }}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Hanna B, Morehouse W, Sarangi S |year=2005 |title=The Bhopal Reader. Remembering Twenty Years of the World's Worst Industrial Disaster |publisher=US: The Apex Press |url=https://books.google.com/?id=8Zzl85Yt_-YC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}} {{ISBN|1-891843-32-X}} US, {{ISBN|81-85569-70-3}} India. Reprinting and annotating landmark writing from across the years.
* {{cite book |vauthors=Johnson S, Sahu R, Jadon N, Duca C |title=Contamination of soil and water inside and outside the Union Carbide India Limited, Bhopal |year=2009 |publisher=New Delhi: Centre for Science and Environment}} In [[Down To Earth (magazine)|Down to Earth]]
* {{cite book |url=http://bhopal.bard.edu/resources/documents/1988ArthurD.Littlereport.pdf |vauthors=Kalelkar AS, Little AD |year=1998 |title=Investigation of Large-magnitude incidents: Bhopal as a Case Study. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030121735/http://bhopal.bard.edu/resources/documents/1988ArthurD.Littlereport.pdf |archivedate=30 October 2008 }} London: The Institution of Chemical Engineers Conference on Preventing Major Chemical Accidents
* {{cite book |vauthors=Kovel J |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-55266-255-7 |title=The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World? |publisher=London: Zed Books |url=https://books.google.com/?id=W-eavh4NQcwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Kulling P, Lorin H |year=1987 |title=The Toxic Gas Disaster in Bhopal December 2–3, 1984 |publisher=Stockholm: [[Swedish Defence Research Agency|National Defence Research Institute]]}} [In Swedish]
* Kurzman, D. (1987). ''A Killing Wind: Inside Union Carbide and the Bhopal Catastrophe''. New York: [[McGraw-Hill]].
* {{cite book |url=http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Environmental%20Health/Greenpeace%20Bhopal%20Report.pdf |vauthors=Labunska I, Stephenson A, Brigden K, Stringer R, Santillo D, Johnston PA |year=1999 |title=The Bhopal Legacy. Toxic contaminants at the former Union Carbide factory site, Bhopal, India: 15 years after the Bhopal accident |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030121733/http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Environmental%20Health/Greenpeace%20Bhopal%20Report.pdf |archivedate=30 October 2008 }}Greenpeace Research Laboratories, Department of Biological Sciences, [[University of Exeter]], Exeter UK
* {{cite magazine |vauthors=Lepowski W |title=Ten Years Later: Bhopal |magazine=[[Chemical and Engineering News]] |date=19 December 1994}}
* {{cite book |title=Methyl Isocyanate. Union Carbide F-41443A – 7/76 |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |location=New York |date=1976}}
* {{cite book |title=Operating Manual Part&nbsp;II. Methyl Isocyanate Unit |publisher=Union Carbide India Limited, Agricultural Products Division (1979)}}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.290.14.1856 |journal=[[JAMA (journal)|JAMA]] |volume=290 |year=2003 |pages=1856–57 |issue=14 |title=Methyl Isocyanate Exposure and Growth Patterns of Adolescents in Bhopal Methyl Isocyanate Exposure and Growth Patterns of Adolescents in Bhopal |vauthors=Ranjan N, Sarangi S, Padmanabhan VT, Holleran S, Ramakrishnan R, Varma DR |pmid=14532313}}
* {{cite journal |url=http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Toxicology/Current%20Science%20article%20&%20critique/Curr%20Science%20Bhopal%20article%20Sriramachari.pdf |vauthors=Sriramachari S |title=The Bhopal gas tragedy: An environmental disaster |journal=[[Current Science]] |year=2004 |volume=86 |pages=905–20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030121736/http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Toxicology/Current%20Science%20article%20%26%20critique/Curr%20Science%20Bhopal%20article%20Sriramachari.pdf |archivedate=30 October 2008 }}
* {{cite book |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/chemical-stockpiles-at-union-c.pdf |vauthors=Stringer R, Labunska I, Brigden K, Santillo D |year=2003 |title=Chemical Stockpiles at Union Carbide India Limited in Bhopal: An investigation (Technical Note 12/2002)|publisher=Greenpeace Research Laboratories }}
* {{cite book |last=Shrishti |title=Toxic present – toxic future. A report on Human and Environmental Chemical Contamination around the Bhopal disaster site |year=2002 |publisher=The Other Media |location=Delhi}}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Varadarajan S |title=Report on Scientific Studies on the Factors Related to Bhopal Toxic Gas Leakage |year=1985 |publisher=[[Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] |location=New Delhi|display-authors=etal}} https://bhopalgasdisaster.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/csir-report-on-scientific-studies-december-1985.pdf
* {{cite book |vauthors=Weir D |year=1987 |title=The Bhopal Syndrome: Pesticides, Environment and Health |location=San Francisco |publisher=[[Sierra Club Books]] |isbn=978-0-87156-718-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bhopalsyndromepe00weir_0 }}
* {{cite book|vauthors=Lapierre D, Moro J | author1-link =Dominique Lapierre |title=Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ela2PwIbLEC |year=2009 |publisher=[[Hachette Digital]], Inc.|isbn=978-0446561242}}
* {{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-bhopal-prayer-for-rain-review-20141114-story.html | title =Review 'Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain' an effective cautionary tale}}
* See also http://www.pressreader.com/india/hindustan-times-st-indore/20160721/281603829819042
-->
 
===Union Carbide Corporation===
<!--
* Methyl Isocyanate. Union Carbide F-41443A – 7/76. Union Carbide Corporation, New York (1976)
* Carbon monoxide, Phosgene and Methyl isocyanate. Unit Safety Procedures Manual. Union Carbide India Limited, Agricultural Products Division: Bhopal (1978)
* Operating Manual Part II. Methyl Isocyanate Unit. Union Carbide India Limited, Agricultural Products Division (1979).
* Bhopal Methyl Isocyanate Incident. Investigation Team Report. Union Carbide Corporation, Danbury, CT (1985).
* Presence of Toxic Ingredients in Soil/Water Samples Inside Plant Premises. Union Carbide Corporation, US (1989).
-->
==বাহ্যিক সংযোগ==
* {{Commons category inline|Bhopal disaster|ভূপাল দুৰ্ঘটনা}}
* [http://www.bhopal.net/ International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal]
* [http://www.bhopal.org/ Bhopal Medical Appeal]
* [http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/ Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation Department] at the Government of Madhya Pradesh
* [http://www.bhopal.com/ Bhopal Information Center], Union Carbide
* [http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/search/?q=bhopal+gas India Environmental Portal] Updated news on Bhopal Gas Disaster
* [https://archive.org/details/bhopalanatomyofc0000shri Bhopal:Anatomy of a Crisis] Paul Shrivastava, Paul Chapman Publishing, 1987, {{ISBN|1-85396-192-2}}
{{City of Bhopal}}
{{Dow Chemical}}
{{Toxicology}}
 
[[শ্ৰেণী:দুৰ্যোগ]]
[[শ্ৰেণী:স্বাধীনোত্তৰ ভাৰত]]