Impact of Bhopal leak lingers 30 years on

On December 3, 1984, forty tonnes of methyl isocyanate leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killing thousands of people and sickening half a million more, making it the world’s worst industrial accident


Union Carbide plant
Upper Lake
Lower Lake
Train station
Spread of gas
BHOPAL

1.25 miles
2km

Bhopal
INDIA
MADHYA PRADESH

CASUALTY TOLL (Official figures)
Deaths (Dec 3-6, 1984): 3,787
Injured: 558,125, including 3,900 permanently disabled

Activists say 25,000 people have died, with further 100,000 still suffering from different sicknesses

RESPONSIBILITY
Indian government argue that slack management and deferred maintenance caused disaster. Then-plant’s owner, U.S. firm Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), blamed sabotage

In 2010, eight former managers at plant were convicted of negligence and sentenced to short prison terms

UCC chairman Warren Anderson, who left India soon after disaster, was sought by Indian government, which had called for his extradition from U.S.
He died in Sep 2014, aged 92

COMPENSATION
In 1989, UCC paid $470m to Indian government to settle litigation stemming from disaster But India is now backing new court case to secure greater compensation – Dow Chemical, which bought UCC in 2001, denies liability Payouts by Indian government to Bhopal claimants over years reportedly average $550 apiece

CONTAMINATION
Environmentalists say toxic chemicals remaining in abandoned plant continue to leak, causing continuing health problems

Dow says contamination is responsibility of Indian authorities who took control of site in 1998

Sources: Indian government, Madhya Pradesh government
Picture: AP