Bhopal Disaster Research Articles

Effect on Antioxidants and Chromosomal Aberrations in the Offspring of Methyl Isocyanate Exposed Population of Bhopal

Bhopal gas tragedy was one of the worst industrial disasters that produced short-term as well as long-term health effects in the exposed population. The present study is an attempt to know about the genomic damage as well as the level of antioxidant caused by Methyl Isocyanate in the offspring of the exposed population and to know about the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in them. Offspring’s of the Methyl Isocyanate Exposed individuals living in the vicinity of 1.5 km from the Union Carbide’s pesticide plant were selected randomly from the study. Equal number of age (20 years – 50 years), sex (male / female) and locality matched non-exposed individuals were also enrolled as controls. All the subjects were non smokers and not employed at any type of chemical industry or a radiation department. Cytogenetic analysis was performed by standard protocol of lymphocyte culture as per as Moorhead et al. Chromosomal aberrations were observed. The antioxidant level of Vitamin E and Blood Glutathione was also recorded. Student’s t-test was performed to test the significance difference between means of chromosomal aberrations. The means were considered to be statistically significant at 1% level of probability. It was observed that the level of antioxidants (both Vitamin E by Jargar et al. and Blood Glutathione by Beutler et al.) was highly significant in the MIC Exposed and MIC Exposed F2 Generation Population as compared to MIC Non-Exposed Population. But, significant difference between MIC Exposed and MIC Exposed F2 Generation Population was observed. The mean percentage of normal metaphase in the Exposed group was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) as compared to Non-Exposed. Besides this, chromosomal aberrations (dicentrics and double minutes) were recorded at mitotic metaphase and were statistically elevated in the MIC Exposed Population. The present study indicates that the genomic instability still persists at a higher intensity among the Bhopal Gas Survivors. The higher incidence of chromosomal aberrations may act as the intermediate processes in the pathway of the progression of any genetic disorders and cancers. Hence, our study suggests that the Exposed Populations and their Offspring’s is more vulnerable and gas affected.
 Keywords: Chromosomal aberrations, Methyl isocyanate, Bhopal gas tragedy, Long-term genotoxicity, Exposed Population

Res(crip)ting the Gaze

The interaction between human and humans, and the environment is crucial to understand the signature of the human impact upon human bodies as well the environment. This article takes into consideration Indra Sinha’s ‘Animal’s People’ that unravels the life of the eponymous character, Animal – a victim of a gas leak in his village of Khaufpur (alluding to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy). Animal comes to be known so after the gas leak twists his spine, rendering him to walk on all-fours. I will engage in a close reading of the primary text, placing it in conversation with the theories of Jasbir K. Puar, Tobin Siebers, and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson. I will investigate the porous boundaries of dis/ability in the face of Anthropocenic disasters, the aesthetics of disability politics – the visibility of the disabled protagonist who refuses to be obliterated and strikes back by negotiating his peripheral and perilous position bringing to the fore the biopolitics that plays out in the Anthropocenic age, thereby linking ecology and civilization in adamantine chains.

What Time is the Visual? Photography and the History of the Future

AbstractPart of a broader inquiry that asks, “What time is the visual?” this article uses ethnographic observations and recent theoretical work to suggest that photography is as much future‐oriented as it is a zone for the preservation of the past. I document different temporal orientations of photographs, drawing on historical studio images featuring clocks and photographic paraphernalia and ethnographic research into memorial images in Nepal and central India. I embrace Ariella Azoulay and Karen Strassler's insights and critique the paradigms established by Pierre Bourdieu and John Tagg. The article concludes with an experiment with photography's prophetic and analytic potential to make visible an “anterior future” in relation to the Bhopal Union Carbide disaster of 1984.

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease among severely gas-exposed survivors in Bhopal, India.

Background The survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster frequently express concern of them being at higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) as a consequence of the long-term health effects of gas exposure. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of CKD among the survivors of severely gas-exposed cohort assembled in 1985 after the Bhopal gas disaster to study the long-term health consequences of gas exposure. Methods We did this cross-sectional study with a sample size of 215 systematically selected participants among the severely gas-exposed survivors in Bhopal to estimate the prevalence of CKD. Sociodemographic and relevant past medical history of the participants was obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire and their blood and urine samples were collected. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation. Those found with reduced e-GFR and proteinuria, suggestive of CKD, were further surveyed after 3 months to differentiate CKD from acute renal damage. Results The prevalence of CKD among the severely gas-exposed cohort survivors in Bhopal was 16.7%. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that body mass index and level of education were significant predictors of CKD. Conclusion The prevalence of CKD among the severely exposed survivors of Bhopal was at par with the national prevalence, putting at rest the apprehension of gas-exposed survivors of being at higher risk of developing CKD.

MAN-MADE ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS AND THEIR IMPACT ON ECONOMY; ECONOMIC MODELING BASED ON BHOPAL GAS DISASTER/ ՏԵԽՆՈԼՈԳԻԱԿԱՆ ԵՎ ԷԿՈԼՈԳԻԱԿԱՆ ԱՂԵՏՆԵՐԸ ԵՎ ԴՐԱՆՑ ԱԶԴԵՑՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ ՏՆՏԵՍՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՎՐԱ. ՏՆՏԵՍԱԿԱՆ ՄՈԴԵԼՈՒՄ՝ ՀԻՄՆՎԱԾ ԲՀՈՊԱԼ ԳԱԶԻ ԱՂԵՏԻ ՎՐԱ/ ТЕХНОГЕННО-ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ КАТАСТРОФЫ И ИХ ВЛИЯНИЕ НА ЭКОНОМИКУ; ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЕ МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ НА ОСНОВЕ ГАЗОВОЙ КАТАСТРОФЫ В БХОПАЛЕ

This article examines implications of man-made environmental hazards on ecosystems, the staggering costs of disasters that are borne by governments and the private sector, and the short- and long-term economic collisions that result from anthropogenic perspective when they occur directly or indirectly. Through the article, Bhopal gas tragedy will be evaluated as a case study, along with its various characteristics, to explore the economic, environmental, and social aspects of man-made disasters and to provide an efficient and viable strategy for governing and responding adequately to potential future disasters. This literature review will discuss current research related to I/O modeling[1] in Disaster Management, with a focus on the use of mathematical models to analyze and predict disaster impacts. At its core, I/O modeling is a way of looking at the inputs and outputs of a system and using this information to create models that can be used to predict the behavior and outcomes of the system. I/O modeling has been used in a number of different fields, including economics, engineering, and operations research. The use of I/O modeling in disaster management is relatively new, however, with research into the topic only beginning in the early 2000s. [1] Input-output (I/O) modeling is a quantitative economic technique used to analyze the relationship and interdependencies among different sectors of a national economy or different regional economies.

Ecological Rifts as Disaster in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People

Literary texts can deconstruct the popular notion that environmental disasters are isolated accidents without global implications. Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People portrays the Bhopal disaster of 1984 as symptomatic of “systemic” disasters that global capitalism perpetrates over time and distributes unevenly. The disaster has converted the setting of the novel, Khaufpur, into a toxic wasteland and metamorphosed Animal, the protagonist, whose uncompromising narrative perspective resists the violence against his body. The toxification of land and human body exemplify postcolonial developments of what Marx conceptualized as “metabolic rift”—the loss of soil nutrients due to capitalist exportation of crops. The postcolonial rifts in Sinha’s novel reflect the discriminatory subtraction of ecological materials by global capitalists who select “disposable” sites of subaltern people for risk-ridden projects that often unleash toxicity and further subtract soil fertility. The ecological rifts additionally expose the historical and global continuities of disasters in South Asia, especially how the colonial extraction of materials is now replicated by neocolonial projects like the pesticide plant in Animal’s People. The reading of disaster via ecological rifts demonstrates Sinha’s subaltern angle in responding to the South Asian varieties of disaster, especially how an abrupt industrial disaster means an endless environmental hazard and denial of justice for the poor.

Blurring the Human-Animal Dichotomy: A Deep Ecological Reading of Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People

The paper analyzes human-animal relation in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People (2007) from the deep ecological perspective. The narrator of the story, a teenager, who prefers to be called ‘Animal,’ recounts his experiences of physical deformity and friendship with his friend Lara – a dog. By praising animal (dog) and criticizing human world, the character Animal blurs the dichotomy between human and non-human world by realizing the intrinsic value of each life form. Animal’s act of calling himself ‘Animal’ rather than human shows his disgust to humanity as he has been a victim of industrial disaster – Bhopal gas tragedy as an outcome of modern development of humanity. His infatuation to animals, open sky and forests shows his love to non-human world as he sees intrinsic values of each thing. It supports what the deep ecologists call it as having intrinsic values of biotic and abiotic things in themselves irrespective of what humans define it for utilitarian purpose. The study is qualitative in nature and analyzes the text from the deep ecological perspective. The paper concludes that by blurring the human-animal dichotomy, the narrator enjoys his emotional relation with animal (dog) and nature.

America’s Union Carbide Corporation and Bhopal Disaster: Study in the Light of Public Relations Before and After the Incidence

This study tries to understand the Bhopal disaster (aka Bhopal Gas Tragedy) in the light of public relation and the role played by Union Carbide Corporation in the Bhopal disaster which resulted in the death of over 3 000 people and 15 000 were injured during the disaster. This case shocked the entire nation and nobody had ever imagined that an industrial accident could be that deadly and venomous. The researcher is trying to understand the incidence from the perspective of public relations and how Union Carbide played its role in the light of public relations. This study is trying to understand that how Union Carbide would have made a difference to its image if they would have responsibly used public relations for its better international image and social responsibility in India. Bhopal Gas Tragedy was an important case for understanding crisis and this case also highlighted that how PR could have been used for handling the situation and for managing relations with people. This case was the talk of the town as thousands were affected and it was a national casualty. This case raised many issues pertaining to Management and people and it also underlined that improved management could have led to better treatment of the case.

Transplacental and Molecular Migrations: Methyl Isocyanate Gas and Reproductive Bioeconomies in Bhopal

In this article, the feminist and postcolonial frameworks of distributed reproduction and frontstaging a chemical are used to further explore the concept of global fertility chains. In particular, these approaches are used to trace reproductive bioeconomies that are traveling at the molecular and physiological levels and that link the chemical compound methyl isocyanate (MIC) involved in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy to the recent growth of reproductive technologies and surrogacy services in the very same city of Bhopal. The goal of this paper is to identify and contextualize the vertical and horizontal transmission of MIC-mediated chemical toxicity through different generations of human and nonhuman actors, and to understand how this toxicity connects to reproductive bioeconomies as we continue to map out global fertility chains and give particular importance to matters of place, scale, and biological borders. Distributed reproduction allows us to rethink the scope of reproduction and make legible the colonial infrastructures that support the molecular and physiological transmission of toxicities. Frontstaging the chemical MIC allows us to trace the specific pathways of colonial legacies that have assumed unfettered access to raw materials and biolabor extracted from the soil, plants, animals, and humans in Bhopal. The paper explores the role that the chemical MIC plays as a catalyst for the transplacental migration of biopolitics—thereby contributing to an extended appreciation of global fertility chains at new molecular and physiological scales.

Modeling the prediction of contamination of an area by the example of the Bhopal accident

A prediction of the scale of methyl isocyanate contamination in the accident in Bhopal has been made (determination of the depth and area of the toxic substance contamination zone) The duration of the damaging action of methyl isocyanate – 0.08 hours (5 min); the equivalent quantity of methyl isocyanate (Qe1) in the primary cloud – 1.75 t; the equivalent quantity of methyl isocyanate (Qe2) in the secondary cloud – 385.36 t has been calculated. The depth of the contamination zone (D) in the primary cloud was determined at 2.84 km, and in the secondary cloud at 87.79 km. It is established that the total depth of the contamination zone is 89.21 km, the area of the actual contamination zone is 699.08 km2. Calculated numbers of fatalities in the first day was 4817, compared to the real number of 5000. The prediction error was 4%.

Establishing the National Institute for Research in Environmental Health, India.

ProblemMultiple environmental health issues resulting from pollution and climate change threaten public health in India.ApproachThe Government of India recognized the need for a permanent environmental health research institute; the Indian Council of Medical Research therefore established the National Institute for Research in Environmental Health in Bhopal in 2010. Scientists at the institute assessed the multiple long-term health effects of exposure to methyl isocyanate, and are now conducting research on a wide array of locally relevant environmental health issues.Local settingThe Union Carbide India Limited pesticide factory in Bhopal was the site of a methyl isocyanate gas leak in 1984, which affected half a million people. The Indian Council of Medical Research set up a coordinating unit in the immediate aftermath, which was upgraded to the Bhopal Gas Disaster Research Centre in 1986 and then the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies in 1995.Relevant changesScientists at the institute undertake environmental monitoring and health risk assessment studies among communities located near polluted areas, such as industrial areas. They are also assessing the training needs of practising physicians, with the aim of developing a curated curriculum to meet the deficiencies in environmental health education in the country.Lessons learntEnvironmental legislation was introduced in the wake of the disaster and a research institute in environmental health was established. Researchers at the institute have recognized the importance of engaging communities in environmental health research, as well as knowledge dissemination to relevant stakeholders.

Respiratory morbidities and lung function abnormalities in survivors of Bhopal Gas Disaster: A cross-sectional study.

Respiratory morbidities remained significant for the last four decades among the survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster. We hypothesized that lung function abnormalities, especially small airway dysfunctions, were responsible for the ongoing respiratory morbidities. We conducted a cross-sectional study between 2018 and 2020 in the severely exposed cohort of the Bhopal gas disaster. A standardized questionnaire was used to record their respiratory symptoms. The forced oscillometry (FOT) and spirometry were utilized for assessing lung functions. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association. Of 916 enrolled individuals (men: 442, mean age: 55.2±12.3 years), 558 participated in lung function assessments. Breathlessness was the most common complaint (71.7%), followed by cough (15.1%). The R5>upper limit of normal (ULN), R5-19>ULN, and X5<lower limit of normal (LLN) were observed in 29.3%, 23.3%, and 21.2% participants, respectively. Normal, obstructive, and restrictive spirometry was observed in 46.2%, 26.1%, and 27.7%, participants, respectively. FOT parameters were abnormal in 25.3% individuals with normal spirometry. Individuals with obstructive spirometry had the highest risk of having abnormal FOT parameters (adjusted odds ratio [adj OR]:3.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.24-6.89). Breathlessness showed a significant association with abnormal R5 (adj OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.13-2.91) and obstructive spirometry (adj OR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.29-3.95). Assessment of small airway functions along with spirometry are useful to identify complex lung function abnormalities in cases of toxic inhalation.

A new accident causation theory based on systems thinking and its systemic accident analysis method of work systems

Major accidents such as the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in the USA, the Bhopal Disaster in India, the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, and the Tianjin Port fire and explosion accident in China, have occurred all over the world. Safety scientists are always trying to understand why these accidents happened and how to prevent these accidents. Accident models and theories form the basis for many safety research fields and practices. However, there is no universally accepted model with useful elements relating to understanding accident causation, although many accident causation models exist. A new accident causation theory named the Interaction Theory of Hazard-Target System (ITHTS) is proposed based on Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) and Risk Management Framework (RMF), which not only incorporates human, organisational and technological characteristics in the same framework, but also considers the sociological factors such as legislative, regulatory, and cultural factors. On the other hand, a new systemic accident analysis method of work systems (SAAMWS) is proposed based on ITHTS and STAMP because ITHTS cannot be applied directly in accident analysis. We choose Tianjin Port fire and explosion accident as a case study to demonstrate the explanatory power of Interaction Theory of Hazard-target System and the feasibility of the new accident analysis method. Further research needs to be done to assess the reliability and validity of this new systemic accident analysis method.

Investigative and probabilistic perspective of the accidental release of styrene: a case study in Vizag, India

In addition to revealing the cracks in global health care, emergency preparedness, and response systems, COVID-19 also exposed the lack of capacity to run chemical plants safely under such conditions. On 7th May 2020, self-polymerization runaway reaction from an atmospheric storage tank in a polymer facility triggered the release of styrene to the atmosphere, resulting in 12 fatalities and hospitalization of more than 1000 individuals. A similar incident had happened 35 years back at Bhopal involving the release of methyl isocyanate resulting in one of the deadliest process safety incidents to date. Therefore, it is very important to understand the causal factors so that such high-risk incidents can be prevented in future. This paper presents a comprehensive investigative study of styrene gas leak at Vizag with special emphasis on probabilistic risk analysis of the loss of containment. Hazard perception study was performed to understand the possible hazardous scenarios in bulk styrene storage facilities for preventing such catastrophic recurrences. Energy barrier analysis was performed to study the inadequacy of pro-active and reactive barriers with respect to the accident case study. The analysis also considers the escalation factors resulting from extremities of COVID-19 lockdown. The self-polymerization reaction that resulted in toxic styrene dispersion was preventable owing to the advancements in safety engineering and loss prevention since Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984). Based on the investigative analysis, it can be pointed out that this accident would have occurred even in the absence of COVID-19 restrictions, mainly due to negligence and complacency shown towards safety by the company’s management.

What Caused the Bhopal Gas Tragedy? The Philosophical Importance of Causal and Pragmatic Details

In cases in which many causes together bring about an effect, it is common to select some as particularly important. Philosophers since Mill have been pessimistic about analyzing this reasoning because of its variability and the multifarious causal and pragmatic details of how it works. I argue Mill was right to think these details matter but wrong that they preclude philosophical analysis of causal selection. I show that analyzing the pragmatic details of scientific debates about the important causes of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy can illuminate causal reasoning about disasters and shed new light on causality and causal selection.

In Utero Exposure to Industrial Disasters: A Case Study of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Background: Globalization and industrialization can increase economic opportunity for low- and middle-income nations, but recent cross-national evidence indicates that these processes may also be increasing industrial accidents and harming the workers of these nations. This paper focuses on the Bhopal Gas Disaster (BGD), one the most serious industrial accidents in history, which caused thousands of deaths at the time of the leak, and tens of thousands more deaths and serious health sequelae in the three decades since. Methods: We use geolocated data on health and education and a spatial difference-in-differences strategy to estimate the relative effect of being in utero near Bhopal relative to other cohorts and to those further from Bhopal. Findings: We document long-term, intergenerational impacts of the BGD, showing that 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. Interpretation: These results indicate social costs stemming from the BGD that extend far beyond the mortality and morbidity experienced in the immediate aftermath. Quantifying these multigenerational impacts are important for policy consideration. Moreover, our results suggest that the BGD affected people across a substantially more widespread area than has previously been demonstrated. Funding Information: AR received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1179208). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Bhopal Disaster Gas Victims’: Trauma Before &amp; During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Many studies, reports, books, narratives, and surveys have focused on the disputable picture of the sustainable development of victims of the Bhopal Gas Disaster to understand the trauma, faced by the victims and survivors before and during the COVID-19 period. Traumatic accidents fundamentally shatter the time-based experience of humans between the present and the past. The poisonous night not only had an intense effect on their way of life, but also had an acute impact on their understanding of how to deal with problems. However, another whammy COVID-19 makes their lives more traumatized, unsustainable, and also the victims of another catastrophe. The researchers of the present study have attempted to focus on the traumatic conditions and lessons faced by the Bhopal Gas Victims. In short, the present study puts the focus on the disputable record of sustainable development of the Bhopal Gas Victims in duration, from 1984 to the COVID-19 period, through an analysis of different studies.

Union Carbide Corporation vs Union of India

The Union Carbide Corporation applied to the Supreme Court concerning S. 155 of the CPC, in a claim for damages made by the Union of India against the order of the Bhopal District Court, on behalf of all the claimants under the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act, 1985. The Union Carbide Corporation, and the Union of India, both filed discrete appeals in the Supreme Court against the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, both of which were heard simultaneously. Damages were sought on behalf of sufferers of the Bhopal gas leak disaster. The Court examined the prima facie material to quantify the damages, and also the question of domestication of the decree in the United States for execution. It scrutinized the question regarding the number of damages that would be “just, equitable and reasonable” for an over-all settlement. The Court referred to the M.C. Mehta v Union of India[1] case, in which it was held that the measure of damages payable had to be correlated to the magnitude and the capacity of the enterprises because such reimbursement had to have a damper effect.

Repurposing the Ladder

Repurposing the Ladder

The state and the patriarch: rewriting Charan Lal Sahu, Rakesh Shrouti, Rajkumar Keswani, Nasrin Bi and others v. Union of India (1990) 1 SCC 613

ABSTRACT In this contribution, as part of the Indian Feminist Judgement Project, we reconsider the decision of the Supreme Court of India in the Charan Lal Sahu case that followed the Bhopal gas leak tragedy. We present a dissenting opinion on the case, finding that the law empowering the State to supplant the victim-survivors as plaintiffs was unconstitutional. Alongside, we offer a brief commentary on why this finding comports with what a feminist judge on the bench might have decided. We consider a variety of ways in which feminist criticism of the majority decision might proceed, and how this criticism informs our rewriting. We also consider a set of persistent questions about feminist judging, and ways in which our rewriting, in turn, might be subject to further feminist objections.