It was the intervening night of December 2-3 about 40 years back that India saw the world’s worst industrial disaster. In 1984, highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from American company Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal, exposing around five lakh people to the poisonous gas.
Bhopal gas tragedy, as it has come to be known, was one of the worst humanitarian and environmental disasters in the world. The official number of deaths was 2,259, which remains disputed. An estimated 574,000 people were poisoned in Bhopal as 40 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate gas was released into the air.
Over 20,000 people have died since the night of the disaster from related conditions. The accident has impacted not just those who were exposed to the gas but also the babies who were in their mother’s wombs at the time and their later generations.
Let’s take a look.
Bhopal gas tragedy’s victims
Thousands of survivors of the Bhopal industrial disaster have said they and their families are still suffering from chronic health problems.
Those exposed to that gas on that fateful night complained of breathing issues, coughing, and irritation in the eyes and skin.
Over the years, more than 22,000 people died from exposure to methyl isocyanate and more than half a million were maimed for life.
Survivors still face chronic health issues, including cancer, lung and heart diseases and neurological damage.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/bhopal-gas-tragedy-impact-survivors-children-birth-defects-13840921.html.
