Worst industrial disaster still haunts India

Melanie Lofgren
12/04/09
2:40 p.m.

Twenty-five years ago, on December 3, 1984, the Bphoal industrial disaster erupted and killed 4,000 people. Union Caribe was a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. A few days after the leak, the number of deaths doubled and it nearly doubled again over the next few years to 15,000 according to government estimates. According to the government, at least 500,000 people were affected by this gas leak ultimately suffering from birth defects, varying degrees of brain damage, chaotic menstrual cycles, cleft lips, missing palates and twisted limbs, and skin, vision, and breathing disorders. The accident has been reported to be a result of a disgruntled employee who was never identified, according to an American chemical company Union Carbide Corp. People today are still suffering from the effects of this exposure. It is contaminating the soil and groundwater in neighborhoods around the plant. Children as young as two months old are showing signs of birth defects related to their parent’s exposure to the disaster although government officials are denying this issue. The officials are claiming that the reason for these birth defects is related to their poor living environments in the slums.

This is a terrible disaster that occurred twenty-five years ago and even worse is that it was not an accident but an act of sabotage by an employee. It is discouraging to hear that someone is not being punished for all the people that have died and those who are still affected today. Even worse is that the government is not acknowledging the reasons of these birth defects still prevalent today. These people are already living in low-income “housing” and have enough disease and health issues to worry about in the slums. Amazing how an accident twenty-five years ago is still affecting the health of those today.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34247132/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/