A Review on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Abstract

On the freezing night of December 2-3, 1984, when 41 tons of MIC gas was released from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, we, the then Mayor and Chief of Police of Bhopal, were the two people to whom the burden of managing the world's worst industrial tragedy fell unceremoniously. It was probably the most difficult challenge faced by a duo in peacetime, with the company initially in denial mode about the release and then calling it a 'tear-gas' sort and having no antidote information, and with the restricted means of evacuation, medical emergency handling involving hundreds of thousands, identification and disposal of the thousands of dead.Everyone was very helpful to the local people, the medical community, the railway workers, the NGOs. We explain the incident and the management of the consequences and the spot decisions that had to be taken in the expectation that no event like this will happen anywhere.