Bhopal Ethical Issues

1. Introduction:

In the morning of December 3, 1984 a tragic event occurred in the city of Bhopal, the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It has been known as the world’s worst industrial disaster. A Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL)’s plant released 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas which instantly killed over 3,000 people and carrying on causing the death of more than 20,000. This tragic event involved not only the technical, safety issues at the time, but also ethical issues on the responsibility of those who would have been able to prevent the tragedy from happening and those who denied or intentionally decreased the responsibility of causing it.

2. Background of the involved organization:

It was declared by the Union Carbide Corporation in their statement regarding the Bhopal tragedy that: The Bhopal plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL), an Indian company in which Union Carbide Corporation held just over half the stock The other stockholders included Indian financial institutions and thousands of private investors in India. The plant was designed, built and managed by UCIL, using Indian consultants and workers (Union Carbide Corporation’s statement). By declaring this, the Union Carbide Corporation tried to change the direction of target of the society into UCIL which is technically owned by Union Carbide by owning over half of the stock. They also stated that the plant was designed, built and managed by the Indian firm (UCIL - which they declared that they “only” own over half the stock) using Indian consultants and workers. However Union Carbide said, stated or declared they are still held for the responsibility of the tragedy ethically, if not legally. Therefore, the main subjected organization involved in this is the Union Carbide Corporation as it has been known by the world.

3. Sypnosis:

In the early morning hours of December 3, 1984, a holding tank with 43 tonnes of stored MIC overheated and released toxic heavier-than-air MIC gas mixture, which rolled along the ground through the surrounding streets. The transportation system in the city collapsed and many people were trampled trying to escape. According to the Bhopal Medical Appeal, around 500,000 people were exposed to the leaking tables. Approximately 20,000, to this date, are believed to have died as a result; on average, roughly one person dies every day from the effects. Over 120,000 continue to suffer from the effects of the disaster, such as breathing difficulties, cancer, serious birth-defects, blindness, gynaecological complications and other related problems[citation needed]. According to the report "The Bhopal Medical Appeal - What Happened in Bhopal?", It is believed that 50,000 people are unable to work because of their debilitating ailments.[verification needed]

Union Carbide, on their Bhopal Information Center website, maintain that “approximately 3,800 died”, while 40 people have permanent disabilities and 2,800 have “partial disabilities”.The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, however, claim that these figures are derived from an affidavit submitted to the Indian Supreme Court on 12th July 1990. This affidavit was apparently based on only roughly 15% of medical evaluations; the Indian Supreme Court would hear, in 1991, that 495,000 people had been classified as injured (22,000 permanently disabled, 3,000 seriously, and another 8,500 temporarily disabled). Even today, according to the campaign, evaluation continues: 15,000 death claims and more than 560,000 injury claims have so far been granted.

The campaign also suggests that “official figures only tell part of the story”, as many injury and death claims have been “denied arbitrarily”. It is also difficult to demarcate which deaths can be attributed to the incident directly. The Indian Council for Medical Research reported that, in 1988 alone, approximately 2,500 extra deaths had occurred in places affected by the disaster. In 1997, according to the Madhya Pradesh Department of Gas Relief and Rehabilitation, an extra 665 deaths occurred in the same areas.

The majority of deaths and serious injuries were related to pulmonary edema, but the gas caused a wide variety of other ailments. Signs and symptoms of methyl isocyanate exposure normally include cough, dyspnea, chest pain, lacrimation, eyelid edema, and unconsciousness. These effects might progress over the next 24 to 72 hours to include acute lung injury, cardiac arrest, and death. Because of the hypothesized reactions that took place within the storage tank and in the surrounding atmosphere, it is thought that apart from MIC, phosgene, and hydrogen cyanide along with other poisonous gases all played a significant role in this disaster.

Information on the exact chemical mixture