Union Carbide India Limited

It solely started with the manufacturing of flash light batteries in Calcutta by the Eveready Company Limited of Great Britain. Later on this familiarity became a subsidiary of UCC headquartered in New York. The company afterward adopted the new name of man and wife Carbide India limited and also established a factory in India to manufacture flash lights on with magnification of its capa city to manufacture dry-cell batteries. The company progressed and by the eighties they were involved in batteries, carbon and metals, plastics, marine products, and boorish chemicals. UCIL established fifteen places in different parts of India.To expand its agricultural division UCIL sought liberty of Indian government to allow them to set up a pesticide plant. Initially the plant was started near the city of Trombay but later on switched to Bhopal. The plant in the beginning imported Sevin powder from the United States reduce it with non-toxic powder and sold it. Later the Indian governme nt pressurized UCIL to manufacture Sevein and its components in India. Thats how the Bhopal plant expanded and the enthronement in the plant increased from initial $1 million to $25 million. The company made its check up on among all companies present in India in terms of Sales.In Bhopal the UCIL factory was like any otherwise process plant with storage tanks, hoppers and reactors connected by pipes, pumps, valves and ducts. Sevin was made through a chemical answer between alpha-naphthol and methyl group isocyanate, MIC. MIC is a highly reactive liquid that boils and becomes a gas above solar mean solar mean solar day time temperatures. UCC was the world leader in MIC technology and provided essentially al the process design for the plant but did not send engineers to supervise the construction. The alpha-naphthol unit began experiencing some conundrums. Also the sales were started going imbibe in the beginning of 80s due to various reasons.Due to the decline in sales the unit started having losses. The mental faculty at the MIC was cut from twelve operators on a shift to six. The maintenance team was reduced in size. In a turn of events of instances, faulty preventive devices remained unrepaired for weeks. The plant was running at farthest below capacity. The company seriously started making plans for dismantling the plant and shipping it to some other region. UCIL was hardened in Bhopal where there was a shanty town inhabiting thousands of Indias poorest citizens. In the South of Bhopal wealthy Indians lived in their ritzy houses.MIC the main component used to prepare Sevin was made at the plant by reacting Phosgene gas with another(prenominal) chemical but the system had been idle. The MIC was being used from charge-pot which was periodically resupplied from either of two different tanks. Operators had experienced difficulty in pressurizing one of the tanks. At the dark of the incident, several hundred gallons of water entered in this toke n tank. The water reacted with MIC producing heat and gas. A relief valve soon lifted and MIC vapor began flowing through spillage headers and out a discharge stack.Some workers reported to supervisors that their eyes began to water because of mathematical let on of MIC. Supervisors base what they believed was the source and they set up a fire hose to spray water on the venture leak. The water curtain that may have reduced the concentration of the gas was only set to 13 m and did not reach the gas it was not designed to contain a leak of such magnitude. The supervisors retired to the company canteens in violations of instructions not to take their break together. The supervisors were later called when the tank was rumbling with increase pressure but it was too late for them to take any concrete accomplish.MIC vapor were billowing from an atmospherical vent in the air. The cloud of deadly white gas was carried by the northeast wind toward the shanties on the south side of the plant. On the cold night cold of December 03, 1984, MIC settled toward ground. The gaseous exhaust reached the huts resulting in panic and confusion. Many of the weak and elderly died where they lay blinded and smothered by the irate fumes. Though the audible external alarm was activated to warn residents of Bhopal, it was quickly shut down to distract causing panic among the residents.Thus, many continued to sleep, unaware of the unfolding drama. However, as the words of the gas leak spread, many of the Bhopals affluent citizens fled in their cars while poor were left behind. An estimated 2000 or more died that deadly night while over 200,000 were injured. Doctors and hospitals were not in organize of proper treatment methods for MIC gas inhalation. They were told to simply give cough up medicine and eye drops to their patients. Confused crowds waited outside hospitals outside the hospitals for medical care. The plant on the other hand, later on, was closed and locked.The citiz ens of Bhopal remained totally shocked by the turn of events. Soon after the incident blame patch started. UCC referred to deliberate act as a possible cause of the water entry. Later the company suggested that a Sikh terrorist group might have sabotaged the plant. A representative of UCCs investigation team suggested that the gas was formed when a disgruntled plant employee, apparently bent on spoiling a batch of methyl isocyanate, added water to a storage tank. There were many theories started flowing around. UCC and UCIL executives were charged in India with manslaughter and other crimes.UCC chairmen Anderson along with the head of UCIL was arrested and briefly detained by Indian officials when they went to India after the incident. Several UCIL employees were also arrested and CBI began criminal investigation. A number of US and Indian lawyers rushed to sign up gas victims and their relatives as clients. Different class action lawsuits were filed in the United Sates on behalf o f the victims of disaster. In March 1985, India enacted the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act, giving UOI the soap right to represent the victims.Finally, In an out-of-court settlement reached, Union Carbide agreed to pay $470 million for damages caused in the Bhopal disaster. As we know from the background of the case that refrigeration unit was not working, safety devices were not working, safety standards and operating procedures were not im place, maintenance was poor, downsizing took place and less qualified personnel were hired. These issues indicate that the problem lied at the attention level. Inefficient operation shows that there was absence of even basic centering.The day to day operations were not carried out according to the general standards and norms then what can be give tongue to some disaster planning or planning for dealing with an unforeseen event. At UCIL the local management should have taken the complete responsibility of the diaster as they failed to maintain even the basic principles of management. Even though foreigners were on the board of directors but it was not the responsibility of the board member to run day to day operations. The whole blame was put on foreigners and forign board and the case became one of the most talked about alter disaster in the history.The plant was purely run by the Indian local managers and it was the responsibility of such managers to maintain the basic standards. This incident would not have happened had management been active in implementing the basic levels of management. ideally there should be a contingency plan in place to deal with the possible disasters. In plants dealing with chemicals there is always a possibility of accidents and disasters of any proportion. It was naive of the management to forget about the contingency measures.On another level the government of India also played the political part and seek to trap foreign board in the incident while forgetting that primary responsibility lied on management on ground. Foreign board in Bhopals case also on the hand well-tried to safegurd its image as the issue was discussed on all forums There had been many accidents of similar nature in UCCs American plants prior to the Bhopal accident but they did not get much publicity and were not winded out of proportion because they were tackled at the management level on ground. As later there was a ruling that the case should be tried in India.The company denied every charge leveled against UCC and pointed out that no US citizen had been employed there 2 years before the disaster. Foreign board definitely had the object lesson responsibility of the incident but they cannot be blamed for failed day to day operations. The case reminds us that on the first level basic management should function and operations should be efficiently run. However the management responsibility does not end here. Management should be on toes and keep on scanning both external and internal environme ntal factors. There should be contingency plans in place to deal with possible mishaps or disasters.