At the opening of the Remember Bhopal Museum in 2014 Photo: GettyAt the opening of the Remember Bhopal Museum in 2014 Photo: Getty
On the nights of December 2 and 3buddha bet, 1984, deadlymethyl isocyanate (MIC) gas used in the manufacture of fertilizers started spreading from a Union Carbide factory premises in Bhopal, killing people in a wide area, many as they slept. The victims, of what has since been called a health holocaust, were mainly the factory workers and their families who lived in the nearby J P Nagar. Thousands died on those two nights and health tragedies continue to unfold for those who are alive. However, they are still waiting on justice.
The Union Carbide Company (UCC) said the leak had caused 5,200 deaths, while the government of India put the death toll at 5,479, and the government of Madhya Pradesh, said it was closer to 15,342. In contrast, survivors’ organizations put the figure at 19,417 up until 2009.
The site of the Bhopal gas tragedy remains contaminated, with 337 tonnes of undisposed toxic waste. It remains there as those living near the requisite facilities— from Gujarat to Hamburg— have objected to the disposal plan.
Starting in November, 2024, the 40th anniversary commemoration of the Bhopal gas tragedy began with artists covering the factory’s boundary wall with graffiti about the disaster. On December 2, members of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic, providing free medical care to survivors, paid homage to victims by holding a candlelight vigil near the now defunct factory. They noted that even after 40 years, people continued to die from the consequences of the gas leak, and that this was mainly due to a lack of proper medical care.
Speaking on improvements required in the health care system, the clinic's Lab technician, Umakant Joshi, said, "Even today, 1.5 lakh people are suffering from chronic diseases caused by gas exposure. For proper medical care of the survivors, it is very important to collect information on diseases that are common among the survivors and what they are doing to deal with them."
At the Remember Bhopal Museum opening in 2014 Photo: Getty At the Remember Bhopal Museum opening in 2014 Photo: Getty While survivors and advocates call Bhopal an ongoing corporate crime, the incident is entrenched in the Indian imagination through continued advocacy and also due to movies such as the Railway Men, which dramatises the incident.
The UCC, at the time of the disaster, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals. The CEO Warren Anderson remains at large despite India’s repeated requests for his extradition from 2004 to 2010. Nor have any of the Indian officials who were found guilty of criminal negligence served any jail time. On November 4 of this year, Bhopal district judge Manoj Shrivastava began hearing an appeal by the convicted management staff. He joins a line of eight judges in the last 14 years to hear the matter.
In 2014, the Madhya Pradesh government opened The Remember Bhopal Museum which commemorates the Bhopal disaster by collecting and exhibiting artifacts and records of the affected communities curated by the disaster’s survivors and victims’ families. The museum opened on December 2buddha bet, 2014, the 30th anniversary of the disaster. It has since permanently shut down as of December 29, 2022.
