(i) Bhopal gas tragedy-an Industrial disaster : On 3rd December 1984, the worst Bhopal gas industrial accident happened in Union Carbide’s pesticide manufacturing unit in the industrial town of Bhopal, India. About 45 tons of highly toxic and reactive methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked out of the tank for nearly two hours and escaped into the air, spreading within a radius of eight kilometers, over the city inhabited by 900,000 people. 3,800 people died immediately while 100,000 to 200,000 people were reported with eye problems, respiratory difficulties, cardiac failure, immune and neurological disorders. Spontaneous abortions, stillbirths and off springs with genetic disorder are still being found even after so many years of this incident.
(ii) Chernobyl Disaster : The Chernobyl disaster was a worst radioactive accident occurred on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, in the former USSR. The accident, caused by a sudden surge of power, destroyed the reactor and released massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment. There were a numerous fires and explosion, which killed more than 30 people immediately.
Due to radiation, pine forest in the immediate vicinity of reactor turned brown and died*Even drinking water got contaminated. The people that have lived in the Chernobyl area were diagnosed with radiation sickness and there has been a dramatic increase in the number of thyroid cancers among children and adolescents. This is due to drinking milk from cows that ate contaminated grass immediately after the accident. This incident clearly exposes the flaws in safety measures in nuclear plants.
