Bhopal Gas Tragedy – The Disaster of 1984

Thirty years have been passed since a poison gas leaked from the Union Carbide Pesticide plant in Bhopal killed thousands of people and left Lakhs survivors. It was the night of 2 December 1984, when 40 tons of toxic methyl isocyanate leaked from the plant. Many people died instantly and around 150,000 have been seriously affected.

After three decades, Lung and Eye complications are common among people in this area. Many also suffer from loss of limb function along with severe palpitations and recurring chest pain. Most victims have received 25,000 to 50,000 rupees in compensation, an amount that is far too small for medical treatment. The effect of this disaster can be measured until today. Thirty years before on the same day, suddenly a peaceful night was turned into people voice asking for help. This disaster is an example of poor Project Management.

The complaints started in 1976 when two workers complained about pollution inside the plant. Following this, in 1981, a worker was splashed with phosgene. When he removed his mask in panic, he ended up inhaling large amount of phosgene gas. He died 72 hours later. American experts visited the plant in 1981 and warned the UCC about a ‘runway reaction’ in the MIC storage tank. Local Indian authorities also warned UCIL about the same problem however, no constructive and preventive measures were implemented by UCIL, nothing from UCC either. After the plant was closed India also suffered a huge economic loss.

After so much of repeated warnings, authorities took no steps. Things would have been different if the project and factory works were processed properly. Plant was located closed to city because of transportation facility. A chemical plant should be located far from city. This incident changed the course of industries in India. A plant near to city is can be dangerous sometimes. Waste emitted by factories and harmful gases directly effects the internal organs of human beings and animals. This is also a reason why most of the river channels in India are polluted and animals suffer the most from it.

In my opinion, chemical plants must be built far from living areas and far from riverbanks. Industrialists should take proper steps in dumping waste and control on harmful gases, which effects living beings and humans. Then only a healthy and safe environment can be built. Projects are successful if they do not affect environment and living beings and then only a country economic conditions will improve. 

“E” Emerges Everything

Many important things, without which we cannot live, surround life. I was thinking about certain important things in one’s life and then suddenly I realize something. I asked my friend about it and start writing on a piece of paper. I appreciate the way she thinks and how fast she thinks. She said many words and I wrote them on paper. What I find is the importance of alphabet “E” in life. I thought that it is the power of “E” which drives everyone life. I will share every word here and will share my views on it. There are many more words but I felt these play an important role or meaning.

The first word came to my mind was Electricity and Electronics items. It is very difficult to live without electronics items these days. With increase in use of electronics items, digitalization is increasing in the world. Soon, India will emerge as the world power in Digitalization. Next is E-commerce. We all know how fast e-commerce business is growing in India. It is expected to reach $11.8 Billion by next year. EBay is among one such company. This year e-commerce businesses all over the world broke many records.

Environment is another word on which major countries of the world are keeping their focus. Increase in global warming and disasters are a major concern. Carbon emission from industries is also an issue. In G20 Summit 2014, President Obama talked about the need of control on Carbon emissions. Then we have the role of Engineers in the world. They are the ones who develop this world.

In life, Entertainment is also necessary. With increase in Sports events, Media, Television channels, and movies, entertainment industry emerges as a new developing industry in the world. Inside the corporate world, ethics of an employee play an important role in driving an organization. Education, Enthusiasm, Eagerness, Emotions are important in life.

Employment level of a country always affects an Economy. More Employment is generated more number of people will earn and spend money which is good for an economy to grow. This is the major concern in Europe since last three-four months. Increase in Empowerment is must for a country. The last and most interesting is the Entrepreneurs. There had been many entrepreneurs in the past and many more are emerging. India will produce the maximum number of entrepreneurs in the world. For me Entrepreneurship is living a lifestyle and creating employment for others.

There are many more words, which start from “E” and are important in life. These are Endurance, Enemy, Example, Everlasting, Excitement, Easy, Emergency, Exercise, Equipment, Europe and many more. All of us use one of these words daily. The idea behind this article was to look out for important words or terms used by people around us and most of them start from “E,” and I realized the power of “E” in one’s life.

Make Less Waste and Save Environment

“Our land is our mother” – it is a very old quote. Land gives us whatever we need. It gives us food, fruits, survival, money, and shelter. However, are we giving anything good to land except waste and dirt? Based on statistics, around 8000 metric tonne waste is produce on a regular basis and it is dump outside cities. People living in outside skirts areas are the most affected. For poor people it is a medium of earning money. Daily rag pickers search for materials to earning money.

Last week while travelling, I was shocked to see Delhi landfills near the by-pass area. It was like a huge mountain and poor people were searching and filling rags. It was very difficult to breathe in that area. It not only affects environment but also the health of peoples living in that area. Every people living on this planet produce this waste. The day is not far when we will see negative impacts of this waste on our planet. Increase in global warming is the common example of this. One cannot burn this waste because the gases, which will be there after burning, will kill million of people. The impacts of this waste are on surface water contamination. Water bodies are being polluted and this affects all ecosystems existing in water. Another impact is increase in pollution and Delhi is termed as most polluted city in year 2014. Hazardous chemicals that get into soil harm plants and trees. Animals are also affected by this waste produced by us because they also feed themselves in the waste.

Waste and dust also have an economic impact. Everyone wants to visit clean, healthy environment places but because of increase in waste, there are no such places around us. A city with poor sanitation, smelly and with waste matter all over the place does not attract good people, investors, and tourists. Such cities tend to have poor living standards.

The only solution of this problem is to make less waste and utilize more of the waste material. This is possible only when each one of us joins hands and takes regular measures to make less waste. This, not only will save our environment but also will have healthy living standard. Another solution is recycling of this waste. Government need to invest in recycling and proper waste control. This will also increase job opportunities for people and we can live in a healthy environment. Adopting sustainability is also an important measure to save environment.

There is a famous quote said by Mahatma Gandhi – “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”