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6/1 2021 Bhopal Disaster

    In the first half of today's class, we shared what we had learned in the previous class, regarding the case of Steven Donziger. Explaining the whole situation to others, enabled me to know what I truly understood last week and what I was missing. We then talked about the Bhopal incident which was strangely similar to Donzigers'. Union Carbide, an American chemical corporation moved their factories to India, due to the low safety standards. Even though the safety standards in India were already remarkably low than in the US, they still managed to make them even lower, breaking Indias' safety laws. Just until things could not get any worse, poisonous gas spread through a large part of India. This incident, also known as the Bhopal disaster killed more than 30,000 people which is about 10 times more than the number of people killed in 9/11. Despite the tragedy, Uni Carbide closed down all offices in India and moved back to America, avoiding any sort of responsibility. It disgusted me how the company that caused the whole incident could act as if they did nothing wrong, whilst thousands of people were dying. One article mentioned the effects of the gas leak. Stillbirth rates and neonatal mortality rates increased up to 30%, taking away the lives of newborns. In addition, the gas leak also had an impact on trees and animals. Within a few days, trees in the nearby area became barren and had destroyed the environment completely. People ran on the streets vomiting and dying. This article was from the business standard and surprisingly shared the information that UC was the cause of the incident and seemed to be trustworthy. On the other hand, a Japanese article I found wrote " A chemical company in India, Bhopal had an incident with leaking gas." This clearly states that everything started and concluded in India, interpreting an entirely different story. This article did not mention a single word concerning "union carbide"... 

In conclusion, both Chevron and Union Carbide ran away from all their responsibilities and made excuses. It is said that Texas company caused the oil spill in Ecuador; however, Chevron bought the company and profits went to Chevron. Therefore, it doesn't make it an excuse for them to blame Texas company and ignore the situation. Moreover, prior to the gas leak, UC and UCIL (Union Carbide India Limited) were split into two. Nevertheless, the majority of profits were handed to UC, which is extremely unfair. I would have never learned nor heard about the Bhopal disaster if it were not for today's lesson, so I am looking forward to absorbing more on what true reality is. 

 



notes:

 union carbide big American company

that used to make a lot of batteries. needs chemicals gases and minerals, pollution, danger

they have high safety standards. the more expensive it costs.

union carbide moved factories to India Bhopal. their safety standards were low which made union carbide to save money. made them even lower, breaking Indian safety laws. poison gas spread out through a large part, over 30,000 died 2000 people sick. just like chevron

carbide closed down all offices in India and moved back to America. avoid pain. big corporation thinking they are above eth law. avoid court cases and safety standards. 




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