Verview of the Bhopal, India disaster Research Paper - 1

Verview of the Bhopal, India disaster - Research Paper Example In December 1984, water with 42 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas entered into tank 610. This resulted into an exothermic reaction that raised the temperature to over and above 200 degrees. The rise in pressure caused the tank to release 30 metric tones of MIC into the ambiance in less than 60 minutes. The northwesterly wind blew the gas over Bhopal (Hanna, Morehouse, & Sarangi, 2005). The gravity of the situation had magnifying factors such as poor safety systems; some of which were off to save on money; the flare tire disconnected; the vent gas scrubber was out of caustic soda; the pressure valve was not working; mandatory refrigeration of MIC was incorrect. Union Carbide ignored recommendations given to them by an American team that had performed inspections on the plant in the year 1961. This inspection revealed 61 potential hazards, none of which Union carbide corrected (Born, 1996). The disaster hit catastrophic levels owing to the burgeoning of casual settlements around the plant. Further, there lacked disaster preparedness actions induced by the appropriate authorities (Hanna, Morehouse, & Sarangi, 2005). Inquiry into the incident further revealed that the plant used unapproved technologies in its productions. The morale of the employees of the firm was low, and attempts to cut down expenses led to poor environment. Most of the qualified work force left the company for better jobs leaving under qualified staff at the plant (Born, 1996). This coupled with lacked of skilled operators led to the occurrence of the Bhopal gas tragedy. Following this nasty incident, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) tried so hard to shift liability to it subsidiary, Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). The UCC claimed that UCIL was autonomous in its operations and as such were culpable (Fernando, 2009). They also tried to blame the incident on disgruntled employees and Sikh extremists whom they