Bhopal Disaster and the Impact of Neo-Liberalism on Developing Countries

Running Head: BHOPAL DISASTER AND THE GLOBAL IMPACT
BHOPAL DISASTER AND THE GLOBAL IMPACT
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1BHOPAL DISASTER AND THE GLOBAL IMPACT
The role of globalisation and the neo-liberal policies has left great impact on the social
and economic condition of the developing countries. The basic principle of Neo-liberalism can
be identified as the less monitoring and control of the government in the business orientation of
the private organisation and makes reforms of the tax laws in order to maximize profit from the
global companies (Giroux 2018). In other words, the Neo-Liberal policies foster a sense of free
trade and privatization that redeems the government control and expenditure (Peck and Theodore
2015). During the 1980s onwards, the Indian government also followed the same line as other
developing countries to taste the benefits of globalisation. However, in course of her way
towards capitalism the Indian state faced one of the biggest industrial disasters in its history as
the Bhopal disaster. The Bhopal gas leak had a great deal of impact on the local inhabitants of
Bhopal and the local people still carry out the adverse impact of the tragedy on their health
condition. The Union Carbide Chemical Company was responsible for this emphatic disaster but
due to their political connections and global domination the CEO got the chance to run away
(Izarali 2013). At that time the nascent Indian government did not share such power to influence
the world politics into its own fold and as a result of that the entire investigation conducted by
the Indian government became futile. As a matter of fact, the developed countries alleged India
that the country did not have any environmental protection act or other safeguards of
environmental sustainability that instigated the UCL Company to neglect such protective
measures (Okoh and Haugen 2013). However, the ethical consideration for the Company was
supposed to be another factor in the event that the global platform overlooked. In this context,
the present essay is going to understand the role of Neo-Liberalism as a tool to affect developing
countries. Moreover, the activities of the global corporate and Multinational companies are also
incorporated into the discussion. For the discussion, the essay chooses the topic of the Bhopal

2BHOPAL DISASTER AND THE GLOBAL IMPACT
Tragedy as a theme and carries forward the discussion further by making a relation between the
theory of Neo-Liberalism, its impact on the developing countries like India, the role of the
political institutions and the responses of the Western countries.
Since its independence, the Indian State was dealing with financial crisis and political
instability inside and in the global platform. The first five year plan was established in order to
boost the economic condition of the country. However, at that time India followed a protectionist
policy in order to protect the indigenous business organisations (Labib 2015). In 1960s, India
transformed its economic policy drastically and as a result of that an essence of liberal approach
had been maintained by the then Indian government (Paul and Baxi 2015). Despite of that the
Indian economy was based on the agricultural industries and there was no space for the heavy
and big industries. From the mid 1970s the rise of the industrialisation started to dominate the
economy of India and paved the way for the foreign investments that boosted up the economic
condition of the country. With the growing opportunities in the Indian market the Union Carbide
and Carbon Corporation (UCC) started to invest in India. The Company was mainly
manufactured chemicals for agricultural purposes. The Company had its foundation from the
pre-independence times, specifically from 1934 (Odysseos 2015). The company was entitled to
produce batteries, carbon products, welding equipments, plastics, in fact, 50.9 percent share of
the Union Carbide India Limited was owned by the parent company UCC and 49.1 percent was
shared between the Government of India and other ancillary companies in India (Ishizaka, A. and
Labib 2014).
The Union Carbide of India Limited was set up in the year 1969 as a manufacturer of
pesticide Sevin. In this regards, it can be identified that the production of Sevin requires methyl
isocyanate (MIC) as an intermediate. Hence, an MIC production plant was added to the UCIL

3BHOPAL DISASTER AND THE GLOBAL IMPACT
sites in 1979 (Banerjee 2013). In fact, the Union Carbide India Limited was located in the
densely populate Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh district. As a matter of fact, the risk factors were
also there to affect the local inhabitants. Despite of knowing the fact the UICL Company did not
take any concerned steps towards it. In this regards, it was significant to acknowledge that in the
period of 1980s the demand of the MIC became decreased but still the Union Carbide India
Limited continued its production.
It is important to know that the tragedy of 1984 was not the single time that the UCIL
Company had faced leakage issues. In fact, in the 1976 two local trade unions complained
against the pollution of the plants. Furthermore, in 1981 there was an incident inside the plant
where a worker was died because of inhaling toxic phosgene gas and passed away within 72
hours (Pariyadath and Shadaan 2014). The very next year around 24 workers were admitted to
hospital because of the same case. It can be argued that the Company also did not have safety
measures and safety and hazards mechanism for the benefits of its employees.
In the post midnight on 3rd December, 1984 toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) was leaked
from the Bhopal factory of Union Carbide and killed thousands of people (Rajkumar 2017). This
tragic incident is infamously known as the Bhopal disaster. The official record articulated that
the disaster took more than three thousand lives and the Madhya Pradesh government calculated
the death toll of two thousand two hundred and fifty nine innocent lives in Bhopal. During the
initial investigation it was figured out that the gas leak had taken place after the midnight. The
location of the incident was placed at the plant number C of the Union Carbide factory in
Bhopal. Within the morning there were more than three thousand people died due to the toxic
gas leak. It was estimated that about forty tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other
chemicals leaked from the factory and killed the inhabitants in a second. The official