Remembering deadliest Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
India observes National Pollution Control Day on 2nd December being mindful of the tragic gas leak disaster in Bhopal in 1984. The observance is also meant to highlight disastrous consequences of industrial disasters due to mismanagement or flouting rules and regulaions.
The small industrial town of Bhopal had a population of 500,000 people who became victims of the toxic gas leak at the Union Carbide Pesticide plant.
A government of India affidavit in 2006 stated the following:
The leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries.
About 3,900 personssuffered severely and permanently disabling injuries.
Reports estimated that 8,000 persons died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have died later.
Pollution shows in many forms. Water pollution, air pollution, environmental pollution, water source pollution, plastic caused pollution, etc.
According to reports, air pollution in India resulted in 1.67 million deaths in 2019. It is 17.8% of all deaths in India and “the largest pollution-related death toll in any country in the world”.
“India is home to 63 of the 100 most polluted cities, New Delhi, capital city, having the worst air quality” (World Air Quality Report, 2021).
As urbanization gallops in India, water bodies get toxic and contaminated. Estimates point out that 70% of surface water is unfit for consumption.
Industrial effluents are dumped in rivers.
It is reported that “163 million people of India lack access to clean water close to their home.” ( 2018 report by WaterAid)
India was among the world’s most polluted countries, second only to Bangladesh in 2021.
India’s 40 million people suffer from waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis. The rivers are made recipients of residential and industrial waste. Will the Ganges be ever clean? So too other rivers!
