Bhopal 25 years later

Professor Ravindra FERNANDO

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, over 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas were accidentally released into the atmosphere from the US-owned Union Carbide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal. It affected the people living in nearby slums. While the government says around 3,500 people died from the toxic gas in the immediate aftermath, activists say some 25,000 died.

Persistent suffering

In the years that followed, a further 200,000 people who were exposed to the gas continue to suffer.

According to scientists and researchers the survivors continue to experience higher incidence of health problems including febrile illnesses, respiratory, neurologic, psychiatric and ophthalmic symptoms.

Furthermore, exposure of the unborn to MIC in the first three months of pregnancy caused a persistent immune system hyper-responsiveness.

Twenty-five years later, on June 7, 2010, a court in India found that the Indian unit of US chemicals firm Union Carbide was guilty of criminal negligence. The court sentenced seven former employees, all Indians, including industrialist Keshub Mahindra, then head of Union Carbide India Limited, to two years in jail.

Each fined Rs. 100,000 ($2,100) and the court also fined the former Indian unit of Union Carbide Rs. 500,000 ($10,600).

Unsatisfied with punishments

The activists and the families of the affected are not happy with the punishment and the fines. They expressed outrage at the ‘insulting’ sentences given to the seven, several of them now in their 70s, for their roles in the tragedy.

They were bailed pending an appeal to a higher court, a process that can take years. Survivors of the tragedy have received an average of only $500 each in compensation.

Union Carbide settled its liabilities to the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million before being bought by US Company Dow Chemical. This was a relatively small amount, based on significant underestimations of the long-term health consequences of exposure and the number of people exposed.

The activists say thousands of tonnes of toxic waste have not been properly disposed of at the now derelict pesticide factory. This waste they allege seeps into the groundwater consumed by the local residents although the Indian government denies this.

Maintenance of the tragedy

The company blamed the disaster on an act of sabotage and has said it no longer has any liability. But Indian authorities blamed the tragedy on the maintenance and design of the site.

Post mortem and toxicological studies, apart from presenting evidence of acute and even chronic cyanide toxicity, provided a unique example of the incriminated chemical being traced to the bodies of the victims.

The entry of MIC into the blood stream was established. The presence of MIC trimer and a few other identified as well as unidentified tank residue constituents in the blood and viscera further established a close nexus of the products of MIC in the aerosol inhaled by the victims.

Dr. Heeresh Chandra, the Forensic Pathologist who was involved in the medico-legal investigation of the disaster, has highlighted the scope for biological monitoring and environmental specimen banking in chemical accidents as part of the global efforts.

When I met Dr. Chandra at a forensic conference in India in 1989, he discussed the difficulties faced by forensic pathologists in the investigation of tragedies such as Bhopal.

Sri Lanka also should learn from this disaster to take steps to enforce international standards for environmental safety in its chemical and other factories, preventative strategies to avoid similar accidents, and industrial disaster preparedness having facilities for proper post mortem facilities and toxicological analyses of body fluids.

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