Bhopal de Silviu Petre

Silviu Petre Bhopal- 26 years after the industrial world’s worst disaster For the majority of us eclipsed by other public concern events such as Cernobil or the Gulf of Mexico oil spot, the Bhopal industrial disaster resurfaces into the public eye. Kno wn as the indus tr ial wor ld’s wors t acc ident, the Bhopa l episode st eps out of anonymity since the recent conviction on June 7 2010 of some former manager held responsible (the bailed out) by an India court. The eight members convicted are all in their 70s and where permitted to buy they way out through a 100.000 rupee bail. For many of those who seek justice the real price would be bringing and convicting Warren Anderson, Union Carbide Corporation CEO at that time. Now a 90 year old man, Anderson is considered senile and unable to face the pressure required by a juridical court. The Bhopal disaster happened on the night of 2-3 December 1984, at Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant when a gas leak carried by the prevailing wind spread the poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC for short) into the air. UCIL produced Sevin, a pesticide composed of several components, among them methyl isocyanate and alpha naphtol. Methy is the most toxic of them and very dangerous for eye and soft tissues, such as lungs. The official record holds the figure to 3.800 victims, but the municipal workers ho carried and tossed the dead bodies into mass graves or cremations sport higher the death toll to more than 15.000. UCIL was established in 1934 as a sucursal of Union Carbide Corporation, one of the first American firms ever to come in India. Growing to the number of 14 plants fragmented in five divisions, UCIL managed to be listed to Calcutta Stock Exchange. The pesticides plant was built in the late ‘70s to contribute to the development o one o f India’s and world’s poorest places. The tragedy of December 2 and 3 1984 was caused by a surplus of water flow into a cyanate tank generating an exothermal reactions far greater to the designed capacity. As in many Third World places where Western corporations fail to implement law enforcing saf ety norms , none of the six sec uri ty mea sur es stood sti ll. Damage could not be contained in a reasonable time or at least people received medical care with retardment due to lack of personal telephones. 1

Bhopal de Silviu Petre

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