Introduction In the early hours of December 3, 1984, on what was a bracing winter morning, mixed with the winter

breeze,was a highly toxic grey cloud that was emerging from the Union Carbide 'C' factory. This poisonous substance, stored in tank number 610 of the factory was later found to be Methyl Isocynate (MIC), which had got contaminated with water. According to experts, MIC is considered to be an extremely reactive chemical and is used to produce insecticides. When water got mixed with this MIC, an exothermal chemical reaction started which resulted in a lot of heat being produced. As the pressure in the tank built up beyond safe levels, the safety valve burst open violently and the gas leaked. As around forty tons of this gas spread through the city, there was no alarm or any kind to warn the inhabitants of this populous town. Since the gas leaked out from a 30 meter chimney, it was not high enough for the people to escape the effects. Later studies have shown that the effect of this toxic gas was especially harsh because of the high moisture content in the gas, which when exposed, started evaporating and being a heavy gas, the gas started moving downwards. The movement of the wind was also such that the gas spread through the city much faster than it otherwise would have. Within hours, the streets of Bhopal were littered with human corpses and the carcasses of buffaloes, cows, dogs and birds. An estimated 3,800 people died immediately, mostly in the poor slum colony adjacent to the Union Carbide plant. Local hospitals were soon inundated with patients, a crisis further complicated by a lack of knowledge of exactly what gas was involved, what its effects were and what the possible cure could be. Since the incident took place on a cold night when most of the people where indoors, they woke up with a burning sensation in their eyes. They rushed outdoors only to breathe greater concentrations of the gas and in panic as they ran, breathing even greater volumes of the gas, ultimately choking themselves to death. Eventually the death toll rose to more than 20,000 people with more than 5,00,000 people being affected directly and indirectly and many more thousands of families were permanently affected for generations. Two decades later, more than a few lakhs of people are still suffering from the debilitating effects of the gas which includes respiratory problems, cancer, congenital birth defects, blindness and many other diseases. Every year since then, scores more are still dying in Bhopal from the various after effects. Some of the symptoms of Methyl Isocynate contamination include cough, dyspnea or disorder of the lungs, chest pain leading to acute lung failure, cardiac arrest and death. It has resulted in many children being born with genetic defects and mutations and mental retardation. It has also had a long term impact on the reproductive cycle of affected women and the quality of their breast milk.

The Union Carbide factory closed down their operation in Bhopal following the tragedy, but they did not do a proper clean up of the site due to which it is a bio-hazardous zone even today. This lapse has resulted in, what many environmentalists claim, a slow and sustained pollution of the area within and around the closed factory. After decades of court cases and arguments and investigations, though compensation has been paid to many of the victims, it is not enough and there is still a strong sense of injustice that lingers in the air. Though a compensation of nearly 470 million USD has been called for, it is undoubtedly a small amount based on the long term health consequences of exposure and the

number of people affected. More than twenty years of passiveness has taken its toll. Many are calling it the worlds biggest humanitarian disaster. Indirectly it has lead to massive unemployment, destitution and widespread psychological problems in the people. It's a shocking tragedy.
Judgment

Those convicted are: Keshub Mahindra, 85, then chairman, UCIL (Union Carbide India Ltd), and now chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; Vijay Gokhale, then managing director, UCIL; Kishore Kamdar, then vice-president; JN Mukund, then works manager; SP Choudhary, then production manager; KV Shetty, then plant superintendent; SI Quereshi, then production assistant. Mahindra, Gokhale and Kamdar are residents of Mumbai. The judgment has no word on Anderson, 89, then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), US, who was declared absconder in the case. The accused have been held guilty under sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence), and 35 (common intention) of the India Penal Code. They have also been fined under section 304-A (causing death by negligence), given imprisonment of three months and a fine of Rs250 under section 336, six months and Rs500 under section 337 and two years and Rs1,000 under section 338.