Inside the Union Carbide Disaster Site, Bhopal
199.5 هزار بار بازدید -
15 سال پیش
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This morning we sneaked into
This morning we sneaked into the Union carbide factory..a rusting hulk of metal and pipes. You will see the storage tank known as '610' which is where the deadly chemical reaction first started. We walk through the grounds that are overgrown with weeds and thorny bushes, past the derelict concrete buildings where many of the chemicals were stored. The perimeter wall is only 100 yards or so from the holding tanks and backing this broken boundary are the shacks of those who still live in the shadow of the factory. This was the worst hit community...with bodies all over the streets and the train line some 50 yards further ...my guide told me his father said that a train rolled by that night and cut thru these victims as they lay dead on the tracks. On the train itself very few survived...this has haunted his father for all these and he can longer talk about it.. almost as if the memory gets stronger. Next to the train tracks are 1000 gallon black water tanks that hold nothing ..the taps are dry and the residents here asked me to complain as no one listens to them!...
HISTORY
A gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India saw the beginning of the worst industrial disaster in history. It has come to be known as the Hiroshima of the chemical industry.
40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas, used in the manufacture of the pesticide Sevin, spewed from the plant into the surrounding areas.
8-10,000 people died within the first 72 hours and another 15,000 people have died as a result of their exposure to the gas. Another 120,000 have chronic medical conditions that require constant healthcare.
(For comparison, Chernobyl is estimated to have caused 57 direct deaths, with some 4,000 additional deaths from cancer).
Union Carbide, the perpetrator of the disaster, is now owned by Dow. Dow have consistently refused to accept any responsibility for the disaster or its aftermath.
The disaster site was never cleared of its toxic waste. The environment, all around the factory, is heavily contaminated and the toxins have now leached in to the drinking water aquifer. An estimated 25,000 people have no other regular source of drinking water and are forced to drink this water contaminated with toxic chemicals.
The Bhopal Medical Appeal funds the Sambhavna Clinic. Sambhavna is the only place that offers free treatment to anybody affected by the toxic gas or the toxic water.
15 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1388/09/05 منتشر شده
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