TOP 5 INDIA’S WORST INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS
Despite enormous growth in technology and infrastructure still, every year major industrial diasters are been witnessed which are consequences of improper safety measures by the industries or by human errors during operations.
Here are the top 5 major industrial disasters happened in India
1.BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY 1984 — WORLD’S WORST INDUSTRIAL DISASTER
The Bhopal disaster also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident in India.
It occurred on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals. The toxic substance made its way in and around the towns located near the plant.
The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.
CAUSE:
The cause of the disaster remains under debate. The Indian government and local activists argue that In November 1984, most of the safety systems were not functioning another issue was that Tank 610 contained 42 tons of MIC, more than safety rules allowed.
During the night of 2–3 December 1984, water entered a side pipe that was missing its slip-blind plate and entered Tank E610 which contained 42 tons of MIC. A runaway reaction started, which was accelerated by contaminants, high temperatures, and other factors. The reaction was sped up by the presence of iron from corroding non-stainless steel pipelines. The resulting exothermic reaction increased the temperature inside the tank to over 200 °C (392 °F) and raised the pressure.
This forced the emergency venting of pressure from the MIC holding tank, releasing a large volume of toxic gases. About 30 metric tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) escaped from the tank into the atmosphere in 45 to 60 minutes. The gases were blown in southeastern direction over Bhopal.
The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation, and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains, and vomiting.
People awakened by these symptoms fled away from the plant.children and other people of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations. Thousands of people had died the following morning.
2. CHASNALA MINING DISASTER:
The Chasnala Mine Disaster occurred on the evening of 27 December 1975 and killed 372 miners in Dhanbad according to government, whereas The local workers union claimed a total death toll of almost 700 people.
The Chasnala Colliery explosion was so severe that the mine collapsed, and millions of gallons of water from a nearby reservoir rushed into the pits at a rate of seven million gallons per minute. Those miners who weren’t killed in the blast now found themselves trapped under debris, or drowned as the water quickly filled the mine. Rescue workers continued their efforts to dig out bodies and survivors until 19 January 1976. Sadly, there were no survivors, and most of the bodies were never recovered.
CAUSE:
The explosion was most likely caused by sparks from equipment igniting a pocket of flammable methane gas. Even a small spark can ignite the surges of gas that may suddenly fill a mine. Clouds of coal dust raised by the explosion and accompanying shock wave contribute to these sorts of mine explosions, making the flames self-sustaining.
The Chasnala Colliery’s records were poorly kept, and many bodies were never recovered, so there is no way of knowing how many miners actually perished in the Chasnala Mine Disaster.
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3. JAIPUR OIL DEPOT FIRE 2009:
The Jaipur oil depot fire broke out on 29 October 2009 at 7:30 PM (IST) at the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) oil depot’s giant tank holding 8,000 kilolitres (280,000 cu ft) of oil, in Sitapura Industrial Area on the outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan, killing 12 people and injuring over 200. The blaze continued to rage out of control for over a week later it started and during the period half a million people were evacuated from the area. The oil depot is about 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) south of the city of Jaipur.
The incident occurred when petrol was being transferred from the Indian Oil Corporation's oil depot to a pipeline. The Met department recorded a tremor measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale around me the first explosion at 7:36 pm which resulted in shattering of glass windows nearly 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from the accident site.
CAUSE:
Due to a Defective pipeline leak set out diesel and petrol out of the storage tanks in IOC Depot.
Around 4:00 p.m. on 29 October 2009 As per eyewitnesses having factories and hotels around Indian Oil’s Sitapura (Jaipur) Oil Terminal they felt the presence of petrol vapor in the atmosphere
Within the next few hours, the concentration of petrol vapor intensified making it difficult to breathe. Around half-past six the staff in the terminal had contained the leak and flow of petrol panicked and reported the matter to nearby Sanganer Sadar Police Station.
At 7:35 p.m. a huge ball of fire with loud explosion broke out engulfing the leaking petrol tank and other nearby petrol tanks with continuous fire with flames rising 30–35 m (98–115 ft) and visible from a 30 km (19 mi) radius. The traffic on adjacent National Highway no12 was stopped leading to a 20 km (12 mi) long traffic jam. The fire was seen till 31st October 2009.
The District Administration and Indian Oil Corporation had no disaster management plan to deal with this kind of calamity. The local fire officers were ill-equipped to deal with fire accidents of this magnitude.
4. KOBRA CHIMNEY COLLAPSE 2009 :
The 2009 Korba chimney collapse occurred in the town of Korba in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh on 23 September 2009. It was under construction and was under contract for Bharat Aluminium Co Ltd (BALCO). Construction had reached 240 m (790 ) when the chimney collapsed on top of more than 100 workers who had been taking shelter from a thunderstorm. At least 45 deaths were recorded.
Plans specify a 275-meter (902 ) chimney for the construction of a thermal power plant by BALCO, which is owned by Vedanta Resources. The incident happened during extreme weather conditions involving lightning and torrential rainfall. Workers sought shelter from the rain in a nearby storeroom, and a lightning strike at approximately 16:00 brought the chimney down on top of them.
CAUSE:
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Raipur observed that the materials were of substandard quality and technically faulty in design.
NIT also concluded that there was improper water curing and that soil at the site was not up to code. Additionally, supervision and monitoring were found to be negligent.
In November 2009, the project manager from GDCL was arrested, as well as three officials from Vedanta Resources which manages BALCO.
5. BOMBAY DOCKS EXPLOSION 1944 :
The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when the freighter SS Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of coon bales, gold, and ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosives, caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and setting fire to the area killing around 800 people.
The two explosions were powerful enough to be recorded by seismographs at the Colaba Observatory in the city. Sensors recorded that the earth trembled at Shimla, a city located at a distance of over 1700 km. The shower of burning material set fire to slums in the area. Around two square miles were set ablaze in an 800 m (870 yds) arc around the ship. Burning cotton bales fell from the sky on docked ships, on the dockyard, and on slum areas outside the harbor.
The total number of lives lost in the explosion is estimated at more than 800, although some estimates put the figure around 1,300. The results of the explosion are summarized as follows:
- 231 people killed were attached to various dock services including the fire brigade and dock employees.
- Of the above figure, 66 firemen were killed.
- More than 2500 were injured, including civilians
- 13 ships were lost and some other ships heavily or partially damaged
- Out of the above, three Royal Indian Navy ships lost
- More than 50,000 tonnes of shipping destroyed and another 50,000 tonnes of shipping damaged.
- Loss of more than 50,000 tonnes of food grains, including rice, gave rise to black-marketing of food grains afterward.
CAUSE:
Alexander James Naismith, states the mixture of cargo in freighter SS Fort Stikine it includes 1,395 tons of explosives including 238 tons of sensitive “A” explosives, torpedoes, mines, shells, munitions, Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, raw coon bales, barrels of oil, timber, scrap iron and approximately £890,000 of gold bullion in bars in 31 crates.
Apart from that 87,000 bales of coon and lubricating oil were loaded.
The inquiry into the explosion identified the coon bales as probably being the seat of the fire. It was critical of several errors: storing the coon below the munitions, not displaying the red flag required to indicate a dangerous cargo on board, delaying unloading the explosives, not using steam injectors to contain the fire, and a delay in alerting the local fire brigade.
