The Bhopal Tragedy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pesticide

There is an interesting history behind the setting up of the plant, and it is intricately linked to the 'Green Revolution' that was underway in India in the 70s. The increasing emphasis using high-yield varieties of seeds and chemical fertilzers and pesticides, to ensure self-sufficiency in grain meant that India became a huge consumer of these products, leading to a severe shortage within the country itself. Foreign multinationals, such as Union Carbide, saw the massive potential to sell such pesticides and fertilizers to the country's 300 million or so farmers. One of these products was the 'miracle' pesticide 'Sevin' which, while not being as polluting as DDT, was equally effective against numerous kinds of pests, and hence was in great demand in many Third World countries at that time, India being no exception.

In the government of the day as well, Union Carbide's proposal to build the plant at Bhopal was welcomed and permission granted readily. Bhopal was chosen primarily because of its central location, good access to resources and easy comminications with the rest of India.

Answer: Methyl Isocyanate

Methyl Isocyanate, or MIC as it is better known, is a deadly gas, because in the presence of water vapour, it becomes volatile and breaks down into hydrogen cyanide, with deadly effects on plant and animal life. What is even more dangerous is that, being a heavy gas, it travels at ground level, making it more likely that it will be inhaled by people caught unawares. Once inhaled, it wreaks havoc with the respiratory system: the lungs start filling up with liquid and the person suffocates with a burning sensation in the throat.

It also leads to blindness and affects plant life as well. The only way one could protect against MIC was to have a piece of wet cloth over one's nose and mouth and run as if the very hounds of hell were snapping at one's heels.

Answer: Midnight 2-3 December, 1984

On a clear night, with little wind and no rain expected, the worst nightmare was unleashed on the unsuspecting people of Bhopal. Workers, on the night shift in the plant detected a faint smell of boiled cabbage (associated with MIC), but they ignored it. What they did not know was that shoddy maintenance and poor safety precautions had meant that water was leaking into tank 410, carrying 40 tons of MIC, and a violent reaction was about to take place.

When a few workers dared to venture out towards that tank, they felt the rumble under their feet and in a few moments, the tank burst out of its concrete casing and exploded, sending a deadly cloud of MIC into the air.

The prevailing wind at ground level sent the cloud swirling across the surrounding slums and into the city of Bhopal.

Answer: False

In the Indian plant itself, one of the workers, Ranjit Singh, had died in 1981 of exposure to MIC when a few drops of it fell on his clothing and he removed his safety mask a little too early. Compensation was paid, the event was hushed up and there was little to indicate that this was more than an isolated aberration.

However, in the 80s the plant started running at a loss due to diminishng demand for Sevin and hence was forced to cut back on costs. Unfortunately, the person responsible for cutting costs did not know the first thing about chemicals and ended up getting rid of all the safety mechanisms, including the all important flare to burn off any escaping MIC in case of a leak. Between 1981 and 1984, six such leaks were documented, but did not lead to any deaths, according to a subsequent report by the Madhya Pradesh government.

In the American plant manufacturing 'Sevin' as well, over 28 such leaks were documented, but the information wasn't released for the fear of causing an uproar in the local community.

The Bhopal plant, in 1984, had ceased to conform to any international safety standards and Indian standards being non-existent, it continued to cut back on safety.

Answer: All of these

Instead of accepting responsibility and seeking to compensate the victims, UCC tried to pass the buck to everybody else and kept pushing responsibility away, in a bid to maintain a 'clean' image among its customers. It first blamed the Indian government for not having proper regulatory mechanisms, then blamed the employees of UCIL for not having taken proper care, and when these two did not work, it came up a mysterious sabotage theory, which to this day it sticks to, yet does not name any employee who allegedly committed this sabotage.

Answer: New York District Court

Soon after the disaster, lawyers from India and around the world descended upon Bhopal sensing a nice mass torts case with a fat chunk of the damages going their way. To try and put a stop to this, the Parliament in May, passed a law which gave the Central government the sole power to represent the victims of the tragedy and to disburse the compensation under the doctrine of 'parens patriae'.

The case was filed in the US first since it was believed that a higher amount of damages could be claimed and Indian tort law itself was not adequately advanced to deal with such a mass torts case.

However, the court denied jurisdiction on the grounds that it would be far easier to hear the case in India, provided UCC did not seek to avoid responsibility on the grounds that the limitation period had passed.

This was upheld by the US Supreme Court as well and the case was finally filed in the Bhopal District Court in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

Answer: Absolute liability

The doctine of absolute liability, which was laid down in the case of MC Mehta v. Union of India, where the leak of oleum gas had killed a few people near the factory, stated that any emissions from the premises of a factory or establishment engaged in the manufacture or storage of such harmful substances would make the owner of such establishment absolutely liable for any damage arising out of such escape. Unlike the previous doctrine of strict liability which governed damage arising out of such incidents, this doctrine allowed no defences whatsoever for such an incident and is similar to the "polluter pays" principle in environmental law in the US. Since the judgment, this principle has been encapsulated in the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1989.

Answer: 2010

Many suspect that the main reason for this extraordinary delay is that criminal convictions (both in the US and India) would have consequences in civil law, too.

Answer: $470 million

This amount is miserable compared to the $3 billion claimed originally and it even led to a rise in the stock of UCC when news of it finally came out. While it was widely decried in India and the US, there were some very practical reasons behind it. For one thing there was no way in the world that depositions could be taken of ALL the 300,000 or so victims to ascertain the exact amount of compensation to be awarded. Even if this was not done and a nice round figure of $3 billion given, there was no way it would have been enforced in the US courts since such an award would have been struck down as arbitrary and not in accordance with the due process of law.

Besides, it had already been five years since the disaster and the government had given a little by way of compensation to the victims and hence, it had to arrive at some settlement with UCC. So far, most of that money has been distributed, but new claims have emerged since then.

This settlement also included the setting up of world class medical facilities in Bhopal in order to treat the victims of the tragedy and provide psychiatric counselling as well.

Answer: 570,000

This massive figure includes approximately 5,000 who died instantly and several hundred thousand maimed for life, including children born with defects arising from the disaster. Such a large number almost matches, another tragedy - the bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II, and the wounds linger. Most of this quiz is based on the brilliant book on the tragedy by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, "It was two past midnight in Bhopal...", especially the history of the plant and the actual disaster. I have referred the website of the Madhya Pradesh government for the stats on the relief and victims at http://www.mp.nic.in/bgtrrdmp/facts.htm. Last but not the least, I have to thank Prof. Vepa P Sarthi of NALSAR UNiversity of Law, (where I study), who was also the counsel for the government of India in the suit, for the legal aspects of the issue. I hope you enjoyed playing the quiz and learnt some more about one of the darkest moments in recent history.