Bhopal Gas Tragedy: It was a winter night. Only two days had passed since the month of November ended. There was complete darkness everywhere. The dark and cold nights were beginning to show their true colours. Everyone was in the throes of sleep that cold night. At that time many people did not know that they would not be able to see the morning sun. Yes, the night between 2-3 December is like a dark chapter in the history of India. When thousands of lives were lost in one moment.
Actually, no one can forget this date of December in Indian history. This gas leak tragedy that occurred in Bhopal in 1984 is the world’s worst industrial disaster. It not only took the lives of thousands of people, but also ruined the lives of many even before they were born. The one who fell could not get up. That night there was probably only one thing on everyone’s lips that God should give them death. The reason was clear, because the entire area had become a gas chamber. It seemed as if someone had strangled him and the darkness before his eyes was worse than death.
What was the factory made of?
Actually, there was a factory named Union Carbide Limited in Bhopal, where pesticides were manufactured. The factory used to be a major source of employment for the local people. However, no one had any idea that this plant would become the center of one of the world’s most devastating disasters.
On the night of December 2, 1984, the employees were on their night duty. Meanwhile, leakage of dangerous gas (methyl isocyanate) started from the plant. Tank number 610, where the gas leak first occurred. It is said that due to the gas released from this tank mixing with water, it soon engulfed a part of Bhopal.
How the entire city became a victim of poisonous gas
Due to gas leakage, the city was lost in a deadly haze. The gas clouds slowly started coming down and started encircling the city in their deadly layers. Soon everything fell apart. The city of hills and lakes had turned into a gas chamber. People were unaware of the deadly disaster. Poisonous gas started entering the houses through windows and doors. One after another people started becoming victims of that poisonous gas. Due to suffocation, people started coming out of the house, but then people started stumbling and falling, their breathing started stopping. There was shouting. The eyes were burning with pain and the throat was becoming suffocated. Within no time the silence of the night echoed with terror and screams. There was chaos and within a few hours the hospitals were filled with patients.
Couldn’t believe what happened on 3rd December
The streets that were once filled with the laughter of children playing were littered with lifeless bodies, victims of poisonous gas. On the morning of December 3, the whole world came to know about this holocaust and they could not believe it. In this accident, about 3000 people lost their lives immediately and thousands of people became physically weak forever. Even pregnant women of that time later gave birth to children who were born physically and mentally weak.
How dangerous was the impact?
After this terrible accident, everything in business and market came to a halt. The environment became polluted and the ecology along with trees, plants and animals was affected. This accident was so terrible that all the resources available in the field of healthcare, administration and law fell short. Due to gas leak, migration of people started and they rushed to leave Bhopal by trains and buses. People read about this tragedy in newspapers and it remained in the headlines for several days. The scars of the tragedy were not just physical. He left behind a legacy of pain and suffering forever on our hearts and minds. The devastating impact of this disaster persists even decades later.
