Just after midnight on December 3, 1984, a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India had a chemical leak accident. The chemical that was released into the air is called methyl isocyanate, or MIC, used to make pesticides. This chemical is tremendously harmful and fatal to humans, livestock, and crops. Only a short-term exposure may cause death or unfavorable health effects. The slums of Bhopal and its residents that surrounded the plant which were mostly affected by the gas suffered dearly. An estimated 8,000 people dead and about 300,000 more suffering from its effects. Bloated carcasses of cattle dotted the streets. Tree and plant leaves were yellow and brittle. “Corpses littered the streets and discovered behind locked doors, trapped in private death tombs” (Diamond 8). These victims had no warning what so ever. As families ran from their homes and away from the plant, they had no idea that the wind was carrying the gas cloud in the direction that they were traveling. The disaster effects on survivors are so great that the effects on generations to come are going to be serious and enduring. This could all have been avoided, if negligence and inattention didn’t play a role in the Bhopal disaster of 1984.
Bhopal is the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh, which is located in India. Climate there varies from tropical heat to near-arctic cold. With fifty-five million people the average income is very low for most people in India. “This huge population means that much of India does not have the resources to meet the daily needs of its people. As a result, most of the country is plagued by desperate poverty” (10). The city of Bhopal is spread out randomly in the midst of gently sloping hills and valleys. South of the city are two lakes that supply Bhopal’s water.
The city is outrageously crowded; taxis and horse pulled carts transport crowds of commuters. “Motorcycles and bicycles carry entire families. Cage-carts, drawn by bicycles, are crammed with schoolchildren on their way to lessons. Seven to ten people may ride in one car” (12). But most people usually walk “… with the communities of people who make the streets their home” (12).
Countless people crowd the railway station every day. The majority of the people are visitors, planning to meet with government officials, to sho...
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... the government of India $470 million by March 23, 1989” (51). This money would be distributed among the victims. In exchange for this, the government agreed to drop all charges against Union Carbide, including the murder charge against Warren Anderson. They thought this was a fair settlement and compensation for the victims. But many Indians didn’t like this settlement, saying it was too low and that its own government betrayed them.
It is said that a rate of one per day that people still die from the “…medical complications caused by the poisonous gas leak” (51).
After all this, India’s government keeps on letting into their country foreign companies and not turning down any technology, and are still seeking foreign industrial companies around the world because they offer jobs which offer low wages for the people and get paid for the use of their services that they provide for the foreign companies.
“Unfortunately, many people desperate for work will accept hazardous job conditions. The likelihood of another disaster like the one in Bhopal looms large” (57).
Saukko , Linnea.“How to Poison the Earth.”The Brief Bedford Reader. Bedford/St.Martin’s Boston: 9th edition ,2006.246-247.
Many developed and developing countries want to protect their own industries such as India who is still reluctant to give foreign firms greater access to its economy, as shown by the political row over its much delayed decision to open up the supermarket sector to global giants
At the end I come to conclusion that BP was not properly prepared for any disaster like that there risk assessment related to project is very limited and even not considered seriously about it for their own progress and putting live of public and employees in danger by not following the standard SOP of particular project. Even after incident happened they try to close their eyes on reality. The company should take this incident as alarm and should implement proper risk assessment for future and also compensate damages on ethical ground and if they counter this situation in good way their loss of bad reputation will be lesser as it predicted to be they should considered their responsibility towards society as well by doing this they not only making other people lives better but also earning good will to their company.
This essay has detailed several examples of how social order is made and remade on City Road and the everyday challenges that social order faces. Firstly, it begins with identifying how social order is challenged and how people perceive social order and moves on to look at both formal and informal ways of making and remaking social order. The essay concludes by identifying the expectations of how people should behave and the consequences when disorder occurs, continuing the making and remaking of
Chernobyl, one word that still strikes pain and fear in the hearts of many, even after 28 years is still causing serious damage. It was largest nuclear disaster ever, Chernobyl was “. . . about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II . . .” (Walmsley “26 years on: helping Chernobyl's children”). The disaster was not immediately seen as a large threat, and this is why so many lives were taken or destroyed.
The facts given in the case of A Cloud in the Midnight Sky raise more questions than they answer. Reviewing this case with the mindset of an administrator, proves to be quite complex. Since I am the acting incident commander, It is my responsibility to declare this situation an external disaster. While the facts in this case study definitely point to catastrophic possibilities, I feel like there are still many pieces of the puzzle that need to be filled. Before I declare a disaster, I need to be in close communication with the local authorities. I will need to assess the entire situation and gather as much information about the incident as possible. Two of the most important pieces of information I would need is what chemical agents if any, have the patients been exposed to and
On April 17, 2013, the community of West, Texas, suffered a devastating and heartbreaking event in the evening hours. After a fire broke out inside the West Fertilizer plant, a massive explosion leveled the facility, caused millions of dollars in damage to surrounding buildings, and took the lives of over a dozen people. Sadly, the majority of those killed were volunteer firefighters who had responded to the fire and were unable to retreat to a safe distance before the explosion. Nearly 200 injuries were also reported to have been treated at local hospitals (Wood, 2013). The explosion was said to be caused by the combination of the fire and large stores of ammonium nitrate fertilizer at the plant.
To sum up, Union Carbide handled the crisis cleverly but not well enough because it knew what would the India government and court react to this incident. Union Carbide controlled the whole situation and took lead of the lawsuits itself. The India government and court didn¡¦t help those victims as much as they needed instead. The function of government, designed to protect its people, disappeared in this case.
Do you ever feel like you are waiting at a red light in your car for what seems like forever? Well, that’s because “ The average person throughout their lifetime spends five years waiting in lines and queues where roughly six months of that is waiting at traffic lights”(How). Cities and towns have faced a transportation problem and they are looking for ways to tackle the issue. Transportation is a big part of one’s everyday life, and it is impossible to avoid it. Transportation plays a crucial role in the way we travel to things like school and work. Humans need transportation to get from place A to place B. There are different kinds of transportation, but the most common one in modern society is automobiles. Although transportation of automobiles is a quick way of traveling at the moment. Automobiles bring issues like health problems, air pollution, and high expenses. This is because humans always manage to take the easy way out without looking at the long-term effects that come with automobiles.
In that case, unions have already blamed the fiasco. That is because the fiasco make the decision to outsource much of the company’s IT jobs, as Indian staff are paid little compared with their British counterparts.
Agent Orange was sprayed from the years of 1962 to 1971 by airplanes, boats, helicopter and soldiers with backpacks. They sprayed 3,181 villages, wreaking havoc and devastation to these areas. Not only did the Vietnamese suffer from the after-effects of Agent Orange, but some U.S. soldiers also became sick due to this deadly toxin. In the U.S., people were exposed as well. The employees that were loading the tubs on to the planes and those who also handled the backpacks of it were affected. At the U.S. Army Chemical Corps. The workers were impacted because the barrels were stored on site before th...
New York City is a fast pace city. People are rushing either to catch up with the next bus or for one appointment or the other. The streets are always crowded with people; every one seems to be in a state of pandemonium. One day, I was walking down the street with my f...
Political factors: In India, there are very tough regulations put in place by the Indian govt. to avoid the monopoly conditions and govt. control remains at the top. This company is generally the state owned company therefore the decision making is very hard for the company and company has to follow the political changes which happen in the India. India has disputes with the Pakistan and China, which is continuously affecting the industry.
Chemical warfare is the most terrifying and debilitating way to gain the advantage on your enemy or adversary. The use of chemical warfare dates back to World War I; although it is believed that Spartan and Greek armies used a type of chemical warfare dated back to 82-72 BC. Chemicals were used in combat during World War I. Some of the chemicals being used were chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas. The Chemical Warfare in World War I began as the Germans used chlorine gas, and threw it into the trenches where the troops and most of the defensive positions were located. Nearly 33% of casualties during World War I resulted from chemical warfare. Only 25% percent were fatalities. At the end of World War I, the casualties resulting from chemical attacks multiplied to a devastating 1,240,853. A total of 91,198 died from injuries sustained from the chemical attacks (Service, 1953). Doctors had no cure or remedy this early in time. Throughout this informative research paper, in this history of I will be breaking down the history and origins of chemical warfare. The history of chemical warfare has changed the world. Our fears of chemical attacks in the future have increased and will continue to get worse.
The development of urban transportation has not changed with the cities; cities have changed with transportation. This chapter offers an insight into the Past and the future of Urban transportation and is split up into a number of different sections. It includes a timeline of the different forms of transport innovations, starting from the earliest stages of urban transport, dating back to the omnibus (the first type of urban transportation) and working in a chronological order until eventually reaching the automobile. However, these changes in Urban transport did not happen for no reason. Different factors within society meant urban transport needed to evolve; points will be made on why society needed this evolution. In contrast I will observe the problems urban transport has caused in society as a result of its rapid progression. Taking account of both arguments for the evolution of urban transport, I will look at where it will go in the future.