33 years after Bhopal Gas disaster
A Typical Example of the Treacherous
Role of Foreign Capital in India
Bhopal gas disaster in the
world’s worst industrial disaster,
occurred on the intervening night
of December 2-3, 1984 at the plant
of Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL),
the subsidiary of the American
giant chemical corporation, Union
Carbide Corporation (UCC). It is
undoubtedly a man-made industrial
disaster created by the U.C.C.
This disaster has a devastating
effect in various forms on the lives
of people of Bhopal and its
surroundings for many generations
remaining as a constant like peril.
Even after 33 years of occurrence
of this U.C.C created industrial
disaster, the people for more than
3 generations and the environment
at Bhopal are suffering from its
toxic affects without any hope or
chances of remedy or recourse to
alleviation.
Thousands of people were
killed instantly due to release of a
poisonous gas from the U.C.I.L.
plant of Bhopal. Thousands more
died subsequently due to the toxic
effect of the released poisonous
gas. Thousands of people were
disabled mentally and physically.
Some of them became blind
losing their eye sights. Some of
them were attacked with nervous
ailments while some others were
attacked with long ailments. Many
women could not conceive and
become mothers as the poisonous
gas impacted the potency of both
the women and men even after 3
generations. Many women are
giving birth to mentally and
physically deformed children.
More than 5, 50,000 people were
January - 2018
exposed to the poisonous gas and
are suffering from its toxic effect
with one incurable ailment or other.
Even as on today many people
suffer from disturbed sleep. Some
people suffer from stomach
sickness. Apart from those killed
there are those who are struggling
between life and death. Many of
the disabled gas victims lost their
lively-hood and are suffering for
sustenance.
As around 40 metric tonnes
of poisonous gas released from
U.C.I.L. plant has dissolved in to
the environment surrounding
Bhopal, the environment is highly
polluted. The soil is poisonously
contaminated to an extent of
1,10,000 tons. Even after 33 years
of the pollution and contamination
of environment and soil no action
is taken to re-mediate the pollution.
While the above mentioned
are the glaring visible impacts of
the Bhopal gas disaster created
by the U.C.C, there are far more
important invisible implications
involved in this disaster which
brought in to light about the horrible
and inhuman dimension of the
nature of the foreign capital
invested in India.
U.C.C. had entered India at
the wake of the U.S. aid
programmes to India, particularly
through U.S aid to agricultural
development and agricultural
commodities programmes to
India. U.C.C started its subsidiary
U.C.I.L, establishing its pesticides
factory at Bhopal. The stated
objective of U.C.I.L at Bhopal plant
was production of pesticides to
cater the needs for development
of Indian agricultural sector.
But the Bhopal gas disaster
of Dec 1984 and its devastation
of gigantic proportions of killings
and maiming of people, and its
intensity of environmental pollution
and soil contamination, causes to
raise a justified doubt and
suspicion about the truthfulness of
the stated objective of U.C.I.L.
It is a well known fact that
U.C.C was a chemical supplier to
the U.S. war department during
World War-II and that during that
time it had experimented in
chemical war fare.
Aftermath of the Bhopal gas
disaster, a joint secretary of the
P.M.O, Rajeswari Tandon in a note
opened that “It appears that a
powerful lobby of Union Carbide
has been active in Bhopal ever
since the tragedy, to distort
evidence of Cyanide poisoning
and experiments earlier
conducted on Union Carbide
premises.”
Till date the U.C.C has not
disclosed what were the chemicals
(gasses) that were released in to
atmosphere on 2/3 December ’84
and it denied to do so in the ruse
of ‘secrets of business’.
The U.C.C claimed that it was
Methyl iso-cynate (MIC) gas that
was leaked in to the atmosphere
from Bhopal plant. However the
findings of a German toxicologist
volunteer hinted that autopsy
results have shown indications of
hydrogen cyanide poisoning.
Dr Heeresh Chandra, professor
of toxicology and Medico-legal
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