bhopal gas leak tragedy legal analysis

5/12/2018 Bhopal Gas Leak Tragedy Legal Analysis - slidepdf.com

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bhopal-gas-leak-tragedy-legal-analysis 1/15

BHOPAL GAS LEAK DISASTER AND

POLITICS OF TRGEDY

Submitted by

ANIRUDH MEHROTRA

Division A Roll No 50 Class B.B.A L.L.Bof Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA

Symbiosis International University, PUNEIn

OCTOBER, 2011Under the guidance of

DR.CHANDRASHEKHAR RAWANDALE

COURSE IN CHARGE,

LAW OF TORTS



C E R T I F I C A T E

The project entitled “BHOPAL GAS LEAK TRAGEDY AND POLITIC0F TRAGEDY “submitted to the Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA f

Law of Torts, MV Accident and Consumer Protection Laws I as p

of Internal assessment is based on my original work carried ouunder the guidance of Dr. Chandrashekhar Rawandle from2011 2016. The research work has not been submitted elsewhere fo

award of any degree.The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in t

thesis has been duly acknowledged.I understand that I myself could be held responsible and

accountable for plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

Signature of the candidate

Date:19th October,2011



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a great pleasure for me to put on records my

appreciation and gratitude towards Dr.

CHANDRASHEKHAR RAWANDLE, Director in charge

for LAW OF TORTS for his immense support and

encouragement all through the preparation of this

report and also for his valuable support and suggestions

for the improvement and editing of this project report. Last

but not the least, I would like to thank all the friends and

others who directly or indirectly helped me in completing

my project report.

the library facilities and computer facilities of the University

have been indispensable.



INTRODUCTION

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to industrialCrises. These are the key issues we face in a world where toxins are usedand developed without fully knowing the harm that can come from their useor abuse.

Developing countries, such as India, are particularly vulnerableas they lack the infrastructure such as infrastructure and communicationrequired to maintain technology but are eager to set up industrial plants intheir land and are striving to any limits in the competition. Therefore, in theprocess of competition they may ignore the safety regulations that theM.N.C.s engage in.

The Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak accident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial disaster. Itoccurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL)

pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. A leakof methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in theexposure of hundreds of thousands of people. Estimates vary on the deathtoll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gasrelease. Others estimate 3,000 died within weeks and another 8,000 havesince died from gas-related diseases. A government affidavit in 2006 statedthe leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial andapproximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.

UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_leak

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Carbide_India_Limited


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhya_Pradesh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_isocyanate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_leak

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhya_Pradesh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_isocyanate



Union Carbide Bhopal symbolizes one of the most tragic accidents in theindustrial history of India. Being set up in the late hours of 1970s, UnionCarbide is a division of the Union Carbide India Limited or UCIL. Equippedwith 14 operational chemical plants, Union Carbide in India has a total manpower of 9000. Union Carbide in Bhopal is mainly engaged in pesticideproduction. In fact a large portion of the pesticides used by the farmers of India is supplied by Union Carbide division of Bhopal.

In the the industrial history of Bhopal, Union Carbide disaster claims aprominent place. On December 8, 1984, the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopalcame under the grip of such a chemical havoc which changed the entirescenario of its reputation. The chemical called methyl isocyanate startedspreading from an in-house tank of the Bhopal plant and within a very shorttime managed to affect a large portion of the local population.

It is believed that as many as 38, 000 causalities occurred due to such gasleakage from the Union Carbide plant of Bhopal. After getting the tragic

news, the chairman of Union Carbide at Connecticut came down to Indiawhere he had been kept under house arrest.

In the month of February, 1985, Union Carbide set up an Employees' Relief fund for those who have lost their relatives or have become permanentlyincapable of work due to the harsh effects of the chemical leakage. BhopalGas Leak Act had been passed in the same year of 1985 and a promise toenact strict chemical protection laws has been provided by the thengovernment of Bhopal. From the year 2004 to 2006, the government of Madhya Pradesh took several initiatives to rehabilitate and facilitate thevictims of Union Carbide tragedy.

Union Carbide Bhopal truly reminds the hapless state of all those whosuffered the acute after-effects of the gas leakage.

CAUSES LEADING TO THE TRAGEDY

The various problems in the plant that were ignored:• The alarms of MIC tank had not worked since past four years• Only single manual back-up system as compared to USA where four-stage system was used• The flare tower and the vent gas scrubber had been out of service forfive months before the disaster due to which flare tower could only hold aquarter of the gas that leaked during the incidence• The refrigeration system was idle and the MIC was kept at 20 degreesCelsius, not the 4.5 degrees as suggested by the manual



• Due to absence of Slip-bound plates, the water leaked into the MICtanks from pipes being cleaned• Faulty valves were not installed by the operators• the MIC tank pressure gauge was not functioning properly for roughly aweek before the accident.• On the night shift, no maintenance supervisor was in place to recordinstrument readings.



A COMPARITIVE STUDY BETWEEN UNION

CARBIDE PLANTS IN U.S.A AND INDIA

Institute,WestVirginia,USA

Bhopal,MadhyaPradesh,India

Capacity High production High



of MIC matchedwith highprocessingcapacity. MICnot stored forlong periods of time.

productioncapacity of MIC but lowprocessingcapacity. MICstored in largequantities forlong periods of

timeEmergency

scrubbers

MIC storagetank equippedwithemergencyscrubbers (toneutralize anyescaping MIC)designed tooperate under

emergencyconditions.

No emergencycausticscrubber toneutralize anyMIC leak.

Computerized

monitoring

Computerizedmonitoring of instruments(gauges,alarms, etc)and processesto supportvisual

observation.

Nocomputerizedmonitoring of instrumentsand processes.Relied solelyon manualobservation

Coolingsystem

MIC fieldstorage tanksused a coolingsystem basedon chloroform(inert andnonreactivewith MIC).

MIC tanksused a coolingsystem basedon brine(highlyreactive withMIC).

Refrigerationunit

Refrigerationunit to controltemperature inthe tanks wasnever turnedoff.

Refrigerationunit had beenturned off since June1984.

Nitrogen

pressure

MIC wasalwaysmaintainedunder nitrogen

MIC tanks hadnot beenunder nitrogenpressure since



pressure October 1984.

Emergency

plan

An elaboratefour-stageemergencyplan to dealwith toxicreleases, fires,

etc, including ageneral publicalert linked tocommunitypolice, riverand rail trafficand local radiostations.Variousemergency

broadcastsystems inplace to alertanddisseminateappropriateinformation tothe public.

No system toinform publicauthorities orthe peopleliving adjacentto the plant.

No emergencyplan sharedwithcommunitiesliving adjacentto the plant;no system todisseminateinformationregarding

emergency tothe public withthe exceptionof a loudsiren.

Maintenanceprogramme

A maintenanceprogramme to

determine andevaluatereplacementfrequency forvalves andinstrumentationand alarmsystems.Weekly reviewof safety valves

and reviewsandmaintenancerecordedextensively.

No evidence of an effective

instrumentmaintenanceprogramme.Safety valvetestingprogrammelargelyineffective andno properrecords

maintained of reviews of instruments,valves andalarmsystems, etc.

Lab analysis A lab analysisof MIC wasconducted totest quality and

No labanalysis of quality wasundertaken.



check forcontaminationprior tostorage,processing ordistribution.

MIC stored forlong periodswithout testingforcontamination.

Training Extensive

employeetrainingprogramme toensure highlevel of trainingand informationamong allemployees of normal andemergency

procedures

Operators put

in chargewithoutsufficienttraining.

Protectiveequipment

Extensiveprovision of appropriatepersonalprotectiveequipment toemployeesincludingprotectiveclothing, air

respirators,etc.

Personalprotectivegear andbreathing airequipment noteasilyaccessible,inadequateand of poorquality.

CHRONOLOGY OF LEGAL EVENTS

After 26 years of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrialdisaster, the court today held all the eight accused guilty.



Following is the chronology of the events:

December 3, 1984: Toxic methyl isocyanate gas releases from UnionCarbide India Ltd’s (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal killing about 15,000people and injuring at least five lakh others. Millions were left sick and theaffected passed on the harmful effects of the gas to the next generations.

December 4, 1984: Warren Anderson, the chairman of Union Carbide, is

among nine people arrested. But he was freed on bail of $ 2,000, upon apromise to return. Union Carbide is named as the 10th accused in a criminalcase charged with culpable homicide.

February, 1985: Indian government files claim for $ 3.3 billion from UnionCarbide in a US court.

1986: US District Court judge transfers all Bhopal litigation to India.

December 1987: CBI files chargesheet against Warren Anderson and otheraccused, including UCC (USA), Union Carbide (Eastern) Hong Kong, andUCIL. Summons served on Anderson and UCC on charges of culpablehomicide.

February 1989: CJM, Bhopal, issues non-bailable warrant of arrest againstWarren Anderson for repeatedly ignoring summons.

February 1989: Indian government and Union Carbide strike an out-of-court deal and compensation of $ 470 million is given by Union Carbide.

February - March 1989: Public protest against the unjust settlement

followed by filing of a number of review and writ petitions against thesettlement in the Supreme Court by the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila UdyogSangatan (BGPMUS), the Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangarsh Sahayog Samiti(BGPSSS) and other concerned groups.

1992: Part of $ 470 million is disbursed by the government among Bhopalgas victims.

February 1992: Anderson declared fugitive by law for ignoring courtsummons.

November 1994: Despite numerous petitions by survivors’ groups, theSupreme Court allows Union Carbide to sell stake in UCIL to McLeod Russell(India) Ltd of Calcutta.

September 1996: Supreme Court dilutes charges against Indian officials of Union Carbide India Limited -subsidiary, majority owned by Union CarbideCorporation [UCC] - partly on grounds that culpability lies with UCC.

August 1999: Union Carbide announces merger with US-based DowChemicals.



November 1999: International environment watchdog Greenpeace testssoil, groundwater and wells in and around the derelict Union Carbide factoryand finds 12 volatile organic chemicals and mercury in quantities up to sixmillion times higher than expected.

November 1999: Several victims and survivors’ organisations file an actionsuit against Union Carbide and its former CEO, Warren Anderson, in federalcourt of New York, charging Carbide with violating international human rights

law, environmental law, and international criminal law.

February 2001: Union Carbide refuses to take responsibility for UCIL’sliabilities in India.

January 2002: A study by Srishti and Toxics Links finds lead and mercury inbreast milk of nursing mothers in communities near the plant.

June 2002: Bhopal gas tragedy survivors launch a protest in New Delhiwhen they hear the Indian government plans to drop charges againstAnderson.

August 2002: Charges of culpable homicide are maintained againstAnderson by Indian court, which demands his extradition to stand trial.Meanwhile, a British newspaper reports that Anderson is in New York afterUS authorities say they are unable to locate him.

October 2002: Protests to clean up former UCIL factory site in Bhopal thatactivists say contains thousands of tonnes of toxic waste.

May 2003: The Indian government formally conveys its request for

extradition of Anderson to the US.

March 2004: A US court says it could order Dow Chemicals to clean soil andground water in the abandoned factory site if the Indian governmentprovides a no objection certificate. The Indian government forwards thecertificate to the United States.

June 2004: The US rejects India’s request for extradition of Andersonsaying the request does not “meet requirements of certain provisions” of thebilateral extradition treaty.

July 19, 2004: India’s Supreme Court orders the Central Bank to pay outmore than 15 billion rupees, part of the original $ 470 million received ascompensation kept in the account since 1992.

October 25, 2004: Bhopal gas victims protest the failure of the governmentto pay victim’s compensation.

October 26, 2004: India’s Supreme Court sets deadline of November 15 topay out the rest of $ 470 million paid by Union Carbide as compensation.



June 7, 2010: All eight accused, including the then Chairman of UnionCarbide Keshub Mahindra, in the Bhopal Gas disaster case convicted by acourt.

CONCLUSION

• All the disasters that occurred in developed countries were neither dueto the managerial operations nor due to the safety regulations. However

these were the biggest component in the Bhopal gas tragedy as themanagement gave only lip service to process and personnel safety and thegovernments did not ensure compliance with the regulations.• There is a need for the improvements in method of safety. Newlegislation, stricter enforcement and personnel training should be in place.• Elementary R&D is needed in the causes of accidents and inindustrialized processes used in the chemical process industries.• All the stakeholders need to play their part in building a safety culture.• National governments and international agencies should focus on widelyapplicable techniques for corporate responsibility and accident prevention asmuch in the developing world context as in advanced industrial nations .



• Local governments clearly cannot allow industrial facilities to be situatedwithin urban areas, regardless of the evolution of land use over time.• Industry and government need to bring proper financial support to localcommunities so they can provide medical and other necessary services toreduce morbidity, mortality and material loss in the case of industrialaccidents.• Existing public health infrastructure needs to be taken into accountwhen hazardous industries choose sites for manufacturing plants.

• Local governments clearly cannot allow industrial facilities to be situatedwithin urban areas, regardless of the evolution of land use over time.• Industry and government need to bring proper financial support to localcommunities so they can provide medical and other necessary services toreduce morbidity, mortality and material loss in the case of industrialaccidents.• Existing public health infrastructure needs to be taken into accountwhen hazardous industries choose sites for manufacturing plants.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article448771.ece

• http://www.mapsofindia.com/bhopal/union-carbide.html

• articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

• www.irastimes.org/bhopal _gas _tragedy.htm

• www.bhopal.net

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article448771.ece

http://www.mapsofindia.com/bhopal/union-carbide.html


http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article448771.ece


bhopal gas leak tragedy legal analysis

Documents