In the early hours of Dec. 3, 1984, around 40 tonnes of the lethal methyl isocynate gas began leaking from the Union Carbide India pesticide factory in Bhopal, the capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In what became one of the world's worst industrial disasters, half-a-million residents were exposed to the deadly gas over the next few hours, leading to approximately 15,000 deaths and 555,000 injuries, including blindness, respitatory problems and other disorders.
The factory was owned by an Indian subsidiary of the American chemical company Union Carbide Corporation, and subsequent investigations revealed that the disaster was a result of substandard safety and operating measures.
The compensation for the victims came slowly and has amounted to very little. In 2010, several former executives of Union Carbide India were convicted by a Bhopal court. Warren Anderson, the CEO of the company at the same, was charged with manslaughter but requests for his extradition were refused by the United States. He died last year, 30 years after the gas leak.
Over three decades later, many of the survivors remain afflicted with chronic illnesses. Many of those were exposed to the gas have given birth to children with birth and congenital defects. More worryingly, over 400 tonnes of the hazardous waste still remains buried underground, leaving the area's soil and water contaminated.
31 years later, this is how the children in the area live.
