The Bhopal crisis

Résumé du document

The Bhopal disaster happened in the early hours of the morning of December 3rd, 1984. It is one of the most terrible industrial disaster or maybe even the most terrible disaster that ever happened. It took place in Bhopal which is the capital city of an Indian state called Madhya Pradesh. The factory was a Union Carbide subsidiary which produced pesticides (Temik and Sevin). Union Carbide was at the time one of the biggest American chemical firm. The subsidiary was called UCIL (Union Carbide India Limited). On its website dedicated to the tragedy, Union Carbide insists on the fact that UCIL was an Indian company and that the American firm only owned over half of the stock. The remainder of the stock was owned by Indian financial institutions and private investors. The plant was built in 1978 in Bhopal where about 300,000 people were living. It was located 5 kilometers far from the village and 1 kilometer far from the railway station. The Indian government had encouraged the building of the plant since it was trying to increase the productivity of its agricultural sector and to reach food self-sufficiency.

Extraits

[...] "Ten Years Later: Bhopal". Chemical and Engineering News. Kovel, J., The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?, London: Zed Books Shrivastava P. (1992), Bhopal : Anatomy of a crisis, Paul Chapman Publishing London All quotations in Part 3 are taken on this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster Cf. [...]

[...] The Bhopal crisis Part How did the crisis start? Analyse the triggering event. How did it amplify? What are the origins? The consequences? 1. How did the crisis start? The Bhopal disaster happened in the early hours of the morning of December 3rd It is one of the most terrible industrial disaster or maybe even the most terrible disaster that ever happened. It took place in Bhopal which is the capital city of an Indian state called Madhya Pradesh. The location of Bhopal in India: The factory was a Union Carbide subsidiary which produced pesticides (Temik and Sevin). [...]

[...] Of course following this event, there was a deep soul-searching in the board of Union Carbide senior managers and a kind of ‘witch-hunting'. Consequently, Warren Anderson, the Chief Executive Officer, Ronald Wishart, The Executive Vice President for Public and Government Relations and Jackson Browning, the Vice President for Environment Safety and Health, “benefited” from an early retirement. In UCIL, the Union Carbide Indian subsidiary, Keshub Mahindra, the Chairman and J.Mukund, the Bhopal Factory Manager were appointed to new positions. Also, a large number of Bhopal plant managers left the company after the plant closure. [...]

[...] Moreover, it seems that the two key stakeholders able to influence the Bhopal crisis (i.e. Union Carbide and the government of India) always opposed on the way things had to be managed and what instructions had to be done in the early hours after the industrial explosion. Mid and long term reactions The second part of the authorities' reaction will mainly reveal itself through a harsh juridical battle. Rapidly, the main issue is all about defining which jurisdiction is the most competent one to receive such a dramatic trial. [...]

[...] In terms of image and reputation, the Bhopal Crisis has been a terrible event for Union Carbide. It raised fundamental questions about corporate and government responsibility for industrial accidents that devastate human life and local environments. Union Carbide then tried to reconstruct a better image of its firm by sending funds to NGOs or to build a hospital but its name has remained soiled by the drama until Dow Chemical acquired the firm in What are the origins? Origins of the disaster seem to be still unclear 23 years after. [...]