Overview

Early in the morning of 3 December 1984, a relief valve lifted on a storage tank containing highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) at the Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) works at Bhopal, India. A cloud of MIC gas was released onto housing, including shantytowns, adjoining the site.

Close on 2000 people died within a short period and tens of thousands were injured. The casualty figures are discussed further in Section A5.9.

The accident at Bhopal is by far the worst disaster which has ever occurred in the chemical industry. Its impact has been felt worldwide, but particularly in India and the United States.

Following the accident the Government of India (GoI) set up an inquiry which reported at the end of 1985 (Varadarajan, 1985). An investigation was conducted by the US parent company the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), which issued its own report (the Union Carbide Report) (Union Carbide, 1975). Another investigation was carried out by the ICFTU-ICEF (1985). In its initial investigation, Union Carbide had limited access to documents and personnel, and it subsequently caused to be published further findings (Kalelkar, 1988). These investigations are described in Section A5.8.

Besides the investigations mentioned, other accounts have been given in Bhopal. Anatomy of a Crisis by Shrivastava (1987) and by Badhwar and Trehan (1984), Bhushan and Subramanian (1985), Bowonder (1985, 1987, 1988), Bowonder and Miyake (1988), Kalelkar (1988), Kletz (1988h), van Mynen (1990) and Bowonder, Arvind and Miyake (1991).

Selected references on Bhopal and MIC are given...