Disaster watch



industrial
disasters continue to claim human lives in India. Since the Bhopal tragedy, India has witnessed over 119 industrial disasters that have claimed over 3,000 lives across the country.

Data prepared by the ministry of environment and forests show that all major disasters took place between 1985 and 1997. The important industrial accidents include gas leakage in September 1997 at the Hindustan Petrochemicals Liquefied Petroleum Gas plant in Vishakhapatnam (58 killed), sulphuric acid release in Kalyan, Maharashtra (1,123 killed and 49 injured). Around 820 people were killed in chlorine leakage in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, ammonia leakage in Bhatinda (500 killed), and toxic release in a factory in Gola Gakaranath in Lakhimpur killed 200.

The survey reveals that most of these industrial sites are located in the thickly populated areas of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.