BHOPAL-SEVESO-THALIDOMIDE

 

42. BHOPAL-SEVESO-THALIDOMIDE

1984 December 2, a night of nightmare not far removed from our memory. In the worst ever industrial disaster in the world, poisonous fumes spewed by a chemical factory, Union Carbide’s pesticides plant, instantly spread a pall of agony and death over the people in a vast area of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Many people woken up from sleep by the suffocating gas, which was spread far and wide by a rolling wind, fell down dead even before realising what was happening. Thousands were asphyxiated, many vomited uncontrollably and many others felt like glass splinters piercing their eyes and throat. In panic, hundreds ran out into the dark streets, only to fall down dead.

In a catastrophe that had few parallels in the world’s industrial history, it only took 40 seconds for the highly toxic chemical methyl isocyanate to turn into gas and, aided by winds, to spread to an area of about 40 km radius. The most affected were the shanty towns surrounding the pesticides plant inhabited by people from the poor strata of the society. The death toll was the heaviest in these areas.

In a nearby railway station also people waiting for trains suddenly started falling down and were rolling on the ground in agony. It was an eerie, horrifying sight. But even in the midst of such chaos, the stationmaster did not lose his presence of mind. When a packed train was almost coming to a halt at that time, the stationmaster gave the signal for it not to stop but to go on. For the thousands of passengers in the train it was indeed a hair breadth escape from the jaws of death.

In one hour Bhopal’s hospitals were overflowing with patients. The doctors and nurses used all available space to keep the patients, most of them in critical condition. By seven in the morning an estimated 20,000 people had been brought to the hospitals. Bodies of those who died were lined up on the lawns of the hospital.

The death toll was initially put at over 3,000. Several thousand prople were grievously affected. The condition of those who survived was pathetic as they had serious, life long lung disorders. Many turned blind, many lost sanity. Hundreds of others were destined to cough out the rest of their lives. Pregnant women had miscarriages. In cases where the newborns survived, mothers were horrified to find abnormalities in them.

Who was the killer? Where was death hiding? Bible says death comes as a thief. Here the thief was in the ship itself. The Dance of Death in Bhopal was caused by a malfunctioning of a valve in a chemical tank at Union Carbide.

Union Carbide is one of the leading multi-national companies in the world. Their contention was if the gas leaked it was obviously because of sabotage. But the government investigation dismissed that claim, finding indifference and dereliction of duty as the causes.

The factory design was not without fault. There had been flaws in the construction of the factory building. Though the factory authorities were aware of the possibility of such an accident, they did not give it the serious cionsideration it deserved.

The source of the tragedy was thus traced to the office room of Union Carbide’s Chief Executive Officer Warren Anderson. When Warren Anderson visited Bhopal on December 6 he was arrested by the police, along with some Indian officials of the company. But he had to be released within a few hours. He told a press conference later that the arrest made was not to fix him but to obtain some compensation for the victims.

Instead of viewing the human tragedy in a humanitarian manner, what the Union Carbide chose was to deal with it as a legal issue. After all business does not brook humaneness. The highest court of the land approved the agreement made by the government of India and Union Carbide. It was, however, decided not to dismiss it as a legal issue but to treat wrong doers as wrong doers and to bring them before the law.

It was not Bhopal that initiated the process of dealing in death in the name of industrialisation. In the past also the world had seen industrial houses playing with the lives of the people. The tragedy that took place in Seveso, near Milan in Italy, in 1976 was no different. It was Hoffman-La Roche of Switzerland which was responsible for it. In July that year there was a leak of the poisonous gas tetrachloro-di-ibenzo-dioxin and in no time plants and trees in the surrounding areas dried up and got uptrooted, cattle fell down dead and children were in agony.

This was a case of fraud on the people. The local residents did not know that their neighbourhood factory was manufacturing such a highly poisonous chemical. Or the factory owners took extra care not to make them known. The safety operations handled by the company were badly coordinated and were to some extent incompetent. At least a week passed before it was publicly stated that dioxin had been emitted and another week passed before the government started evacuation of the people. Once they realised the gravity of the situation, the government declared the entire region as a protected area. It barred transport of farm products, fruits, vegetables and meat from this area to the outside. All houses in the locality were pulled down by the government forces.

What is this chemical called dioxin? Haven’t we read that some of the bombs dropped by America in Vietnam had instantly destroyed all vegetation in the affected area? It was dioxin that was used in such bombs. Even in small doses this gas can kill animals. Science is yet to find out the lasting adverse impact of the use of this chemical. Yet it has been found that this gas had the capacity to cause cancer among humans and animals.

Perhaps the scientific world could not assess the real extent of the havoc caused by the Seveso incident. That was because about 15,000 families who lived in the region had been permanently re-located. But the immediate impact of the accident itself points to its intensity. About 4,000 children from the region had to suffer from a painful affliction called Chloracne, a widespread, acne like eruption on the skin, leading to open, pus emitting wounds.

Many of the volunteers who took up rescue and relief work at Seveso later developed disorders of the liver. This was in spite of the fact that as a precautionary measure these volunteers were made to work in the area only for a couple of hours continuously.

Pregnant women in the nearby localities were in panic as it was realised that the chemicals would cause serious adverse impact on the foetus. Many of them therefore opted to go to hospitals for abortion. It should be remembered that this happened in Italy where abortion is considered a sin against God.

The plight of the officials who supervised rescue operations was pitiable. They did not know what they were up against and what they should do in the next moment. Even the scientists were also not aware of the defensive or protective measures to be taken by the people in general in such a situation. They can only say that what they see in front of them was the result of the poisonous gas.

According to Prof Getty who was in charge of health in the region, what happened in Seveso was no less than what happened in Hiroshima. Environmental scientists contend that the Seveso incident was the worst environmental disaster in the world. Whatever be the steps taken in Seveso and adjacent areas, the poisonous fumes emitted by the factory would be carried by winds to sow the seeds of death on people and other living organisms from generation to generation.

Those who want to cover up the decay in the industrial culture would say that what happened in Bhopal and Seveso were only unexpected accidents. But how can one justify an industrial culture that pours poison into the unborn foetus more shamelessly than Poothana of lore who smeared poison on her nipples to kill infant Krishna?

In 1957, leading drug manufacturer Grunenthal introduced in the market a wonder drug, Thalidomide, that was claimed to be without any side effects and which was certain to

remove anxiety, insomnia, gastritis, nausea, morning sickness and what not in pregnant women. It soon became an over the counter drug and widely used in as many as forty countries.

Four years later a researcher at the Hamburg University found that most of the children born to women who had used Thalidomide were born cripple. Over 8,000 children without eyes, without hands or legs, destined to a life of misery and suffering as silent victims of an industrial culture gone astray.

It was because of the alertness of a woman official of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that America escaped this tragedy. Dr Frances Oldham Kelsey who had joined the FDA just a month ago had steadfastly refused to accept at face value the contentions put forward by the makers of Thalidomide. She sought many clarifications, including how the drug would affect the foetus. Since the manufacturers could not give any plausible explanation, she denied licence for the drug. When the devastating effects of the drug in other countries became known after some time, the one-man army of Dr Kelsey came in for great praise in America for warding off a potential disaster in that country.

In Britain, Thalidomide affected about a hundred children. Though the people were idignant and enraged, the government did not come forward to inquire into the drug tragedy. The mothers of the Thalidomide children then came out on their own to launch a legal battle against Distillers, the company that distributed the drug. The litigation was similar to that made out against the Bhopal company. For many reasons the case went on for years before a final settlement on compensation for the victims was reached.

Tha Thalidomide case also showed what people’s will can do in a democratic set up. London daily The Sunday Times created history in journalism by taking up a powerful campaign in support of Thalidomide mothers. The drug company finally bowed before the people after Ralph Nader, the godfather of consumer movement in America, proclaimed that all products of the company would be boycotted in that country. In 1973 the drug company gave shape to a compensation package accepted by all.

The Thalidomide incident helped to restrain a marketing strategy that claimed for products qualities that they did not possess. Perhaps that was a loss to those drug companies that issue death warrants against unborn children. But it was a gain for humaneness and humanity.