Bhopal disaster: causes, victims, consequences

The twentieth century has become a turning point for humanity, as the speed of technological development has increased several dozen times. But next to the events that changed the story for the better, there were several cases, and they became huge mistakes. The largest man-made disasters changed the face of the whole planet and led to terrible consequences. The biggest of them is an accident at a chemical plant in Bhopal. It is an Indian city in the state of Madhya Padesh, and it did not stand out until December 3, 1984. This date changed everything for Bhopal residents.

History of the plant construction

In the 1970s, the government of India decided to raise its economy at the expense of foreign capital. Therefore, a special program was introduced aimed at attracting foreign investors for investments in local industry. It was approved the construction of a plant that would produce pesticides for agriculture. Initially, some of the chemicals were planned to be imported from other countries. But it turned out to be unprofitable, as the competition in this segment of the market was very high. Therefore, production was transferred to a different level, more complex and dangerous. In the 80s, the city of Bhopal (India) and its surroundings were distinguished by large crop failures, which led to a decrease in demand for plant products. Therefore, it was decided to sell the enterprise, but the buyer was never found.

Plant before the accident

This deplorable plant was owned by Union Carbide India Limited, an American company specializing in the production of chemical fertilizers (pesticides). The Bhopal plant was a storehouse for a very toxic substance - methyl isocyanate, or MIT. This is a deadly poisonous substance, which, in the state of gas when it hits the mucous membrane, instantly burns it, causing the lungs to swell. If it is in a liquid state, then in its qualities it is similar to sulfuric acid.

It also has very specific physical properties. The boiling point is 40 degrees Celsius, which is the usual daily temperature for India. If even a small amount of water is added to the mixture, it starts to actively warm, which triggers a chain reaction, as a result of which the substance decomposes and releases hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. Such a cocktail is capable of destroying everyone who is in the zone of defeat. At the plant, several systems were created that were supposed to prevent such a reaction, but they did not work because of a number of reasons listed below.

Preconditions for the accident

Before the Bhopal disaster occurred, there were several factors that predisposed to its occurrence. The first is the desire of the company-owner of the plant to save money on wages. Therefore, they built their own enterprise in India, where wages are ten times lower than in developed countries. The level of qualifications of such employees was not high enough, but their requests too. This was very profitable in financial terms.

The second factor is the violation of international standards for the storage of toxic substances. The factories are allowed to store no more than 1 ton of MIT, and in Bhopal it was already 42 times more, that is 42 tonnes.

The third factor is the negligent attitude of local residents to warnings, which were published in the newspaper. The management of the plant warned that it was necessary to be as cautious as possible and, if the siren sounded, immediately evacuate.

The next thing is that the city of Bhopal at the time had a government that constantly turned a blind eye to non-compliance with safety regulations, and as a result, several accidents occurred at the plant.

Another important factor is the wear and tear of equipment, the replacement of which cost a lot of money. That's why all the systems that were supposed to prevent the accident were either on repair, or simply turned off.

Causes of the disaster

The official cause of the accident was never established. It is only known that the release of lethal gas into the atmosphere was caused by water entering the tank with methyl isocyanate. This led to the boiling of the liquid, and evaporation under high pressure ripped off the safety valve. How the water got into a substance with which it is very dangerous to contact it is unknown until now. On this occasion, there are two versions.

If you believe first, then it's just a terrible accident. The day before, the surrounding area was flushed, and, as the pipes and valves were faulty, the water hit the tank with the MIT.

The second says that the Bhopal disaster was rigged. One of the unscrupulous employees for their own reasons could connect a hose with water to the tank, and this triggered a reaction. But which of these versions is true, no one knows. It is clear only that the constant desire to save money has become the true cause of this man-made disaster.

Chronology of events

Bhopal disaster happened at night from 2 to 3 December 1984. In the capacity of E610, which contained 42 tons of methyl isocyanate, for unknown reasons fell about a ton of water. This led to the heating of the liquid to 200 degrees Celsius. The workers noticed the first signs of the tank's malfunctioning with the MIC at 15 minutes of the first night, after a minute all the indicators had already doubled. In addition to the sensors, a strong gnashing sound was unavoidable, which produced a crack that cracked under the capacitance. Operators rushed to include emergency systems, but they, as it turned out, were simply absent. So they decided to manually cool the tank and began to pour it on the outside, but the reaction was not stopped. At 00.30 the emergency valve simply could not stand the enormous pressure and burst. Over the next hour, more than 30 tons of toxic gas was found in the atmosphere. Since the MIT is heavier than air, this deadly cloud began to trail down the earth and slowly creep around the surrounding areas of the plant.

Nightmare

All these events occurred at night, so the whole population was sleeping peacefully. But people immediately felt the action of the poisonous substance. They were stifled by coughing, their eyes were beating, it was simply impossible to breathe. This led to massive deaths already in the first hours after the accident. The rising panic also did not help. Everyone was frightened and did not understand what was happening. Doctors tried to help people, but did not know how. After all, the management of the plant did not want to disclose the composition of the gas because of trade secrets.

By the morning the cloud had disappeared, but left behind a huge number of corpses. It was just the beginning. Thousands of people died in the next few days, except for this, nature also suffered very badly: trees threw down foliage, animals died in large numbers.

Consequences of the accident

Already, the fact that this catastrophe is recognized as the most deadly in the whole history, speaks of its scale. In the first hours of toxic gas killed 3,787 people, within two weeks after this unfortunate event, 8,000 people died, in the following years another 8,000.

Studies in 2006 showed terrible statistics: 558 125 cases of calls to doctors were registered during the entire time after the release due to chronic diseases that were caused by poisonings from the MIC. In addition, the Bhopal disaster has become a real ecological disaster. Toxins poisoned the entire environment for years to come. The company-owner of the plant paid a lot of money to the injured, but this can not be fixed.

Plant after the accident

Even after the incident, the enterprise was closed not immediately. It continued to operate until the consumption of the MIT's reserves was exhausted. In 1986, however, the plant was closed down, and its equipment was sold. But no one even tried to completely eliminate the dangerous zone. It was simply turned into a chemical waste dump that poisoned the life of the whole city. To date, the plant has more than 400 tons of toxic substances that penetrate the ground and make water and processed food unsuitable for consumption. In 2012, the authorities of India decided to utilize the waste, but so far it is only in the plans.

Thus, the most horrifying technogenic disaster in the history of mankind was the Bhopal disaster (India). 1984 for this country became a symbol of death. Even after three decades, the consequences of this accident are relevant for the entire local population.