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January 13, 2011

Bhopal disaster - educating our future leaders

A news article mentions that, as part of standard 8 curriculum,the NCERT has introduced a new realistic account of the Bhopal gas disaster. I am happy that authorities are taking the correct steps and educating our children who will be future leaders of tomorrow. I strongly believe that the Bhopal Gas disaster and its lessons must be made mandatory for all students of MBA, chemical engineering,cost accountancy and chartered accountant aspirants.
The news article mentions the following:
"The Social Science edition, that was released this month, recounts the story of the Bhopal gas tragedy under the chapter Law and Social Justice. It not only has a report on the industrial disaster but also raises serious concerns about the fate of the gas-affected people and the weak environment laws in the country.It dwells on how taking advantage of weak environment laws and availability of cheap labour, environmentally dangerous plants open in developing nations.
Several photographs of the incident, victims, deaths and protests have been published in the book. The background colour of the pages has been kept black while the headlines and photo captions are highlighted in red colour.
A caption of one of the pictures says: "Dow, how many more must die?"
The account begins: "The world's worst industrial tragedy took place in Bhopal 24 years ago. Union Carbide (UC), an American company, had a factory in the city in which it produced pesticides. At midnight of 2 December, methyl-isocyanate (MIC) - a highly poisonous gas - started leaking from the UC plant..."
"Within three days, more than 8,000 people were dead. Hundreds of thousands were maimed."Most of those exposed to the poison gas came from poor, working-class families, of which nearly 50,000 people are today sick to work. Among those who survived, many developed severe respiratory disorders, eye problems and other disorders. Children developed peculiar abnormalities, like the girl in the photo."
"The disaster was not an accident. UC had deliberately ignored the essential safety measures in order to cut costs. Much before the Bhopal disaster, there had been incidents of gas leak killing a worker and injuring several."
"24 years later, people are still fighting for justice: for safe drinking water, for healthcare facilities and jobs for the people poisoned by UC. They also demand that (Warren) Anderson, the UC chairman who faces criminal charges, be prosecuted."
Criticising government apathy in allowing the factory to come up, a paragraph of the chapter reads: "Government officials refused to recognize the plant as hazardous and allowed it to come up in a populated locality. When some municipal officials in Bhopal objected that the installation of an MIC production unit in 1978 was a safety violation, the position of the government was that the state needs the continued investment of the Bhopal plant, which provides jobs."
It also has a comparative account of Union Carbide's safety system in Bhopal and its other plant in the United States."At West Virginia (USA.) computerised warning and monitoring systems were in place, whereas the UC plant in Bhopal relied on manual gauges and the human senses to detect gas leaks. At the West Virginia plant, emergency evacuation plans were in place, but non-existent in Bhopal."

I hope the contents of the book are not revised!
Read the article in this link.

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