Bhopal: after 40 years, the impact is far from over

It’s 40 years since disaster struck in the city of Bhopal. On 03 December 1984, tonnes of methyl isocynate (MIC) leaked from a storage tank at a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Limited. This released a toxic gas of MIC into the atmosphere, exposing all residents within the surrounding area.

According to Amnesty International, “more than 570,000 people were exposed to damaging levels of toxic gas, and as many as 10,000 people are believed to have died within three days of the leak” and “it is now estimated that more than 22,000 people have died as a direct result of exposure to the leak, with exposure-related deaths continuing to occur. More than half a million people continue to suffer some degree of permanent injury.”¹

Responsibilities

At the time and subsequently, the disaster brought into question the responsibilities of the Indian Government and the Union Carbide corporation (UCC) itself. Many failings have been identified over the years, including cost-cutting exercises as part of the planning, designing and building stages of the plant. This also contributed to UCC not implementing safety controls which were already in place at another UCC plant in the United States. The company also relied on manual controls which introduced the potential for human error. Environmental controls were also lacking.

Last week (26 November), I attended the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, where a session on Bhopal² was held. The panel had many insightful and powerful speakers who all brought their own perspective and voice to the discussion. One of them, who lived close to the plant at the time as a young girl, gave a powerful account of events on that day, accompanied by the continued consequences. She confirmed that those living nearby were not told about what was being produced at the plant or what to do should there be a disaster.

She was followed by another speaker who said “the company knew what chemical it was using but ‘didn’t share the antidote to their poison’ if something went wrong.” The speaker confirmed that a number of her relatives and loved ones, including her father and mother, have been diagnosed with different cancers in the years following the disaster. On this point, it was referenced that cancer rates are higher among those who live in close proximity to the disaster site.

Long-term impact

A BMJ Open article³ looking at the long-term health and human capital effects of in utero exposure to an industrial disaster and focused on Bhopal found “men who were in utero at the time were more likely to have a disability that affected their employment 15 years later, and had higher rates of cancer and lower educational attainment over 30 years later”. The conclusion goes on to state “these results indicate social costs stemming from the Bhopal Gas Disaster that extend far beyond the mortality and morbidity experienced in the immediate aftermath”.

Amnesty International also highlights a long list of long-term health impacts evidenced by research in its report, including a broad range of enduring diseases associated with gas exposure, including respiratory, ocular, gastrointestinal, reproductive, neurological, immunological and psychological illnesses. Scarily, the report says “the death rate was 28 per cent higher and that rates of illness were 63 per cent higher in the exposed population compared to the unexposed population”.

So, although we hear about leaks and releases of these toxic gases and their immediate impact on life, health and the environment, the reality is even more worrying. Toxic cases like this are multi-generational – it keeps on going – and have inter-generational impact.

Legally, a positive outcome of this disaster is that it has resulted in legal changes. For example, at that time, there was nothing in law to say those outside the factory should have information about the site and what to do if something went wrong. This disaster at Bhopal changed the law to local disaster management planning, another speaker said.

The disaster also led to criminal prosecutions in India and multiple civil actions in both India and the USA. Amnesty International states ‘However, none of these judicial attempts has resulted in prompt, effective and adequate remedy as required by international human rights law.⁴

The fight for justice, and for the human rights of those in Bhopal and other affected people, continues. Amnesty International has a series of calls to action (see page 87) to all states and companies and to the specific owners regarding Bhopal. IOSH supports these calls, and we ask that we all continue to learn from these past events, we lead with prevention-first strategies with robust management systems and risk management practices and, importantly, we never forget.

References

1. Amnesty International, Bhopal: 40 Years of Injustice, Executive Summary, p. 10, 2024

2. UN, Development Dialogues, 2024

3. BMJ Open, Long-term health and human capital effects of in utero exposure to an industrial disaster, 2023

4. Article 5: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 8: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 2(3): International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 2: Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, 21 March 2006, UN Doc. A/RES/60/147, among many other instruments.