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 December 2 was just another day in Bhopal, but when the sun went down in that industrial city not many would have known the horrendous nightmare that was to unfold before them in the winter of 1984. The dawn following a night which saw 40 tons of methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide, mono-methyl amine and other lethal gases spewing from Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory.
Eighteen years have not dulled the memory of the tragedy when, gasping for breath and near-blind, people stampeded the narrow alleys in their bid to escape the noxious gas. When over half a million were exposed to the deadly cocktail, the gases burning into the tissues of the eyes and lungs and damaging practically every system in the body. When no one outside the factory was warned because the safety siren was turned off, when negligence and callousness on the part of the management led to over 8,000 lives being snuffed out. And thousands of others too ill to return to their jobs, more maimed for life, scarred mentally and physically by the Hiroshima of the chemical industry.
Post-mortem of the disaster, the how and the why have continued over the years but will criticism or analysis bring back the dead, heal wounds, restore health or assuage the agony of the orphaned?
The immediate causes of the disaster were put down to a cost-cutting drive initiated by Union Carbide like reducing the number of personnel; lowering minimal training for operatives from 6 months to 15 days; cutting down on vital safety measures and adoption of hazardous operating procedures.
If only the warning signals had been taken note of… The death of a plant operator in 1981 following a phosgene gas leak, severe injuries to 28 others following another phosgene leak in January 1982 and in the same year MIC escaped from a broken valve resulting in four workers being exposed to the chemical. If that wasn't enough, workers were subject to routine low-level exposure.
 If only safety and maintenance had not been given much lower priority… Cost cutting almost always means lowering safety standards and increasing the risks of a serious accident, if not a catastrophe. And that is precisely what happened.
These ifs will remain to haunt us for time immemorial, but as we weep for the voices that will never be heard, for eyes which will never see a sunrise again let us look into our conscience and come up with answers on how to avert such disasters. And beyond all, ensure that the culprits are brought to book.
Sethulakshmy Nayar
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