Editing Bhopal disaster (section)

==Long-term effects==
In 2018, ''[[The Atlantic]]'' called it the "world's worst industrial disaster".<ref name="MandavilliUnfolding">{{cite magazine |last1=Mandavilli |first1=Apoorva |title=The World's Worst Industrial Disaster Is Still Unfolding |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-is-still-unfolding/560726/ |access-date=10 July 2018 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |date=9 July 2018 |author1-link=Apoorva Mandavilli |archive-date=23 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823024201/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-is-still-unfolding/560726/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lawyers, academics and journalists have described the disaster as an [[ecocide]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-17 |title=Industrial disasters from Bhopal to present day: why the proposal to make 'ecocide' an international offence is persuasive – The Leaflet |url=https://theleaflet.in/industrial-disasters-from-bhopal-to-present-day-why-the-proposal-to-make-ecocide-an-international-offence-is-persuasive/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=theleaflet.in |language=en-US |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621162359/https://theleaflet.in/industrial-disasters-from-bhopal-to-present-day-why-the-proposal-to-make-ecocide-an-international-offence-is-persuasive/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Perinchery |first=Aathira |date=2022-02-26 |title=We're Killing the Environment, and There's a Word for It – Ecocide – The Wire Science |url=https://science.thewire.in/environment/explained-ecocide-international-crime-climate-change/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |language=en-GB |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621162359/https://science.thewire.in/environment/explained-ecocide-international-crime-climate-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pereira |first=Ricardo |date=2020-06-01 |title=After the ICC Office of the Prosecutor's 2016 Policy Paper on Case Selection and Prioritisation: Towards an International Crime of Ecocide? |journal=Criminal Law Forum |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=179–224 |doi=10.1007/s10609-020-09393-y |issn=1572-9850|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-18 |title=How Imperative Is It To Consider Ecocide As An International Crime? |url=https://www.ijllr.com/post/how-imperative-is-it-to-consider-ecocide-as-an-international-crime |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=IJLLR |language=en |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621162358/https://www.ijllr.com/post/how-imperative-is-it-to-consider-ecocide-as-an-international-crime |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Long-term health effects===
Some data about the health effects are still not available. The [[Indian Council of Medical Research]] (ICMR) was forbidden to publish health effect data until 1994.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />

A total of 36 wards were marked by the authorities as being "gas affected", affecting a population of 520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of age, and 3,000 were pregnant women. The official immediate death toll was 2,259, and in 1991, 3,928 deaths had been officially certified.<ref name="Eckerman2001-p23-24"/> The Sambhavna clinic "estimates 8,000 deaths during the first weeks, and another 8,000 since then".<ref name="Eckerman2001-p23-24">{{cite book |last=Eckerman |first=Ingrid |title=Chemical industry and public health. Bhopal as an example |year=2001 |publisher=Nordic School of Public Health |location=Gothenburg, Sweden |url=http://www.lakareformiljon.org/images/stories/dokument/2009/bhopal_gas_disaster.pdf |access-date=10 June 2010 |archive-date=30 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030030142/http://www.lakareformiljon.org/images/stories/dokument/2009/bhopal_gas_disaster.pdf |url-status=live |pages=23–24}}<br>{{citation |title=The Bhopal Gas Tragedy 1984- ? A report from the Sambhavna Trust |location=Bhopal, India |date=1998 |work=Bhopal People's Health and Documentation Clinic }}<!-- Given as the source by Eckerman --></ref><ref name="Eckerman2005" />

The [[government of Madhya Pradesh]] confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.<ref name="rehabilitation1"/>

Later, the affected area was expanded to include 700,000 citizens. 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.<ref name="first3" />

A [[cohort (statistics)|cohort]] of 80,021 exposed people was registered, along with a control group, a cohort of 15,931 people from areas not exposed to MIC.{{sfnp|Eckerman|2005|loc=8.2.4 Centre for Rehabilitation Studies|p=3}} Nearly every year since 1986, they have answered the same questionnaire. It shows [[mortality rate|excess mortality]] and [[Disease#Morbidity|morbidity]] in the exposed group. [[Bias]] and [[confounding factor]]s cannot be excluded from the study. Because of migration and other factors, 75% of the cohort is lost, as the ones who move out are not followed.<ref name=Eckerman2005 /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sharma DC |journal=The Lancet |title=Bhopal study represents 'missed opportunity' |year=2013 |volume=382 |issue=9908 |page=1870 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62562-3|pmid=24325010 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A number of clinical studies are performed. The quality varies, but the different reports support each other.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> Studied and reported long-term health effects are:
* Eyes: Chronic [[conjunctivitis]], scars on cornea, [[Corneal opacity|corneal opacities]], [[Cataract|early cataracts]]
* [[Respiratory tract]]s: Obstructive and/or restrictive disease, [[pulmonary fibrosis]], aggravation of [[tuberculosis]] and chronic [[bronchitis]]
* Neurological system: Impairment of memory, [[Fine motor skill|finer motor skills]], numbness, etc.
* Psychological problems: [[Post-traumatic stress disorder|Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)]]
* Children's health: [[Prenatal development|Peri]]- and [[Infant|neonatal]] death rates increased. Failure to grow, intellectual impairment, etc.

Missing or insufficient fields for research are female reproduction, chromosomal aberrations, cancer, immune deficiency, neurological sequelae, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and children born after the disaster.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Late cases that might never be highlighted are respiratory insufficiency, cardiac insufficiency (cor pulmonale), cancer and tuberculosis.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Bhopal now has high rates of birth defects and records a [[miscarriage]] rate 7x higher than the national average.<ref name="really well informed" />

A 2014 report in ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' quotes a "spokesperson for the Bhopal Medical Appeal, which runs free health clinics for survivors" as saying "An estimated 120,000 to 150,000 survivors still struggle with serious medical conditions including nerve damage, growth problems, gynaecological disorders, respiratory issues, birth defects, and elevated rates of cancer and tuberculosis."<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Masi
| first = Alex
| author2 = Sanjay Verma
| author3 = Maddie Oatman
| title = Photos: Living in the Shadow of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster: Thirty years after the Union Carbide leak killed thousands, residents are still dealing with contaminated water, toxic waste, and lingering diseases
| work = [[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]
| access-date = 7 June 2014
| date = 2 June 2014
| url = https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/06/photos-bhopal-india-union-carbide-sanjay-verma-pesticides-explosion
| archive-date = 7 June 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140607044948/http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/06/photos-bhopal-india-union-carbide-sanjay-verma-pesticides-explosion
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

===Health care===
The Government of India had focused primarily on increasing the hospital-based services for gas victims; thus, hospitals had been built after the disaster. When UCC wanted to sell its shares in UCIL, it was directed by the Supreme Court to finance a 500-bed hospital for the medical care of the survivors. Thus, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) was inaugurated in 1998 and was obliged to give free care for survivors for eight years. BMHRC was a 350-bedded super speciality hospital where heart surgery and hemodialysis were done. There was a dearth of gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics. Eight mini-units (outreach health centres) were started and free health care for gas victims was to be offered until 2006.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The management had also faced problems with strikes, and the quality of the health care being disputed.<ref name=BMHT2005>{{cite web|title=Bhopal Memorial Hospital closed indefinitely|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/04/stories/2005070401510500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320105300/http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/04/stories/2005070401510500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 March 2007|date=4 July 2005|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=30 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Time line|url=http://www.bhopal.net/delhi-marchers/factsheets/BMHT%20sheet.pdf|publisher=Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust|access-date=30 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406192139/http://www.bhopal.net/delhi-marchers/factsheets/BMHT%20sheet.pdf|archive-date=6 April 2012}}</ref> [[Sambhavna Trust]] is a charitable trust, registered in 1995, that gives [[modern medicine|modern]] as well as [[ayurvedic]] treatments to gas victims, free of charge.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /><ref name="sambhavna">{{cite web |publisher=Sambhavna Trust |title=The Bhopal Medical appeal |url=http://www.bhopal.org/ |access-date=27 March 2006 |archive-date=16 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616051045/http://www.bhopal.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Environmental rehabilitation===
When the factory was closed in 1986, pipes, drums and tanks were sold. The MIC and the Sevin plants are still there, as are storages of different residues. Isolation material is falling down and spreading.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> The area around the plant was used as a dumping area for hazardous chemicals. In 1982 [[tube well]]s in the vicinity of the UCIL factory had to be abandoned and tests in 1989 performed by UCC's laboratory revealed that soil and water samples collected near the factory and inside the plant were toxic to fish.<ref name="UCC1989">{{cite book |title=Presence of Toxic Ingredients in Soil/Water Samples Inside Plant Premises |location=US |publisher=Union Carbide Corporation |year=1989}}</ref> Several other studies had also shown polluted soil and groundwater in the area. Reported polluting compounds include [[1-naphthol]], [[naphthalene]], [[Carbaryl|Sevin]], [[tar|tarry residue]], toxic [[organochlorine]]s, volatile organochlorine compounds, [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[chromium]], [[copper]], [[nickel]], [[lead]], [[hexachloroethane]], [[hexachlorobutadiene]], and the pesticide HCH ([[Hexachlorocyclohexane]]).<ref name="Eckerman2005" />

In order to provide safe drinking water to the population around the UCIL factory, the government of Madhya Pradesh proposed a water-supply improvement scheme.<ref name="GovMP" /> In December 2008, the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided that the toxic waste should be incinerated at [[Ankleshwar]] in Gujarat, which was met by protests from activists all over India.<ref name="Times of India 16 Dec 2008">{{cite news |title=Carbide waste to go: HC |date=16 December 2008 |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Carbide-waste-to-go-HC/articleshow/3847412.cms |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811075230/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-16/india/27937330_1_carbide-waste-toxic-waste-direction-for-safe-disposal |url-status=live |archive-date=11 August 2011}}</ref> On 8 June 2012, the centre for incineration of toxic Bhopal waste agreed to pay {{INRConvert |250|m|nolink=yes}} to dispose of UCIL chemical plants' waste in Germany.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-to-pay-Rs-25-crore-to-dump-Bhopal-waste-in-Germany/articleshow/13945631.cms |access-date=30 August 2012 |archive-date=4 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704055607/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-09/india/32140129_1_toxic-waste-gom-babulal-gaur |url-status=live |title=Centre to pay Rs 25 crore to dump Bhopal waste in Germany| date=9 June 2012|work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> On 9 August 2012, Supreme court directed the Union and Madhya Pradesh Governments to take immediate steps for disposal of toxic waste lying around and inside the factory within six months.<ref>{{Cite news|first=J.|last=Venkatesan |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3747020.ece |title=Supreme Court orders disposal of Bhopal toxic waste in six months|date=10 August 2012|access-date=30 August 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|archive-date=13 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913003244/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3747020.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

A U.S. court rejected the lawsuit blaming UCC for causing soil and water pollution around the site of the plant and ruled that responsibility for remedial measures or related claims rested with the State Government and not with UCC.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 June 2012 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-court-absolves-Union-Carbide-of-liability-in-Bhopal-tragedy/articleshow/14468308.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704055559/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-28/india/32456094_1_ucil-union-carbide-india-ucc|url-status=live|archive-date=4 July 2013| title=US court absolves Union Carbide of liability in Bhopal tragedy |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=30 August 2012}}</ref> In 2005, the state government invited various Indian architects to enter their "concept for development of a memorial complex for Bhopal gas tragedy victims at the site of Union Carbide". In 2011, a conference was held on the site, with participants from European universities which was aimed for the same.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bhopal2011.in/publication.php#c |title=Bhopal 2011 – landscapes of memory |publisher=SpaceMatters, India with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) |editor=Amritha Ballal |editor2=Jan af Geijerstam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004095821/http://www.bhopal2011.in/publication.php#c |archive-date=4 October 2012 |access-date=16 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Curating a Bhopal People's Movement: An Opportunity for Indian Museums |journal=Curator: The Museum Journal |author=Lakshmi R |date=9 January 2012 |doi=10.1111/j.2151-6952.2011.00119.x |volume=55 |pages=35–50}}</ref>

===Occupational and habitation rehabilitation===
Thirty-three of the 50 planned work-sheds for gas victims started. All except one was closed down by 1992. In 1986, the MP government invested in the Special Industrial Area Bhopal. One hundred and fifty-two of the planned 200 work sheds were built and in 2000, 16 were partially functioning. It was estimated that 50,000 persons need alternative jobs, and that less than 100 gas victims had found regular employment under the government's scheme. The government also planned 2,486 flats in two- and four-storey buildings in what is called the "widow's colony" outside Bhopal. The water did not reach the upper floors and it was not possible to keep cattle which was their primary occupation. Infrastructure like buses, schools, etc. were missing for at least a decade.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />

===Economic rehabilitation===
Immediate relieves were decided two days after the tragedy. Relief measures commenced in 1985 when food was distributed for a short period along with ration cards.<ref name="Eckerman2005" /> [[Madhya Pradesh]] government's finance department allocated {{INRConvert|874|m}} for victim relief in July 1985.<ref name="India1985_1">{{cite book|author=Press Institute of India|title=Data India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn9DAAAAYAAJ|access-date=1 August 2012|year=1985|publisher=Press Institute of India|page=166}}</ref><ref name="India1985_2">{{cite book |author=Press Institute of India|title=Data India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn9DAAAAYAAJ|access-date=1 August 2012|year=1985 |publisher=Press Institute of India|page=322}}</ref> Widow pension of {{INRConvert|200}}/per month (later {{INRConvert|750}}) was provided. The government also decided to pay {{INRConvert|1500}} to families with monthly income {{INRConvert|500}} or less. As a result of the interim relief, more children were able to attend school, more money was spent on treatment and food, and housing also eventually improved. From 1990 interim relief of {{INRConvert|200}} was paid to everyone in the family who was born before the disaster.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />

The final compensation, including interim relief for personal injury, was for the majority {{INRConvert|25|k}}. For death claims, the average sum paid out was {{INRConvert|62|k}}. Each claimant was to be categorised by a doctor. In court, the claimants were expected to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that death or injury in each case was attributable to exposure. In 1992, 44 percent of the claimants still had to be medically examined.<ref name="Eckerman2005" />

By the end of October 2003, according to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, compensation had been awarded to 554,895 people for injuries received and 15,310 survivors of those killed. The average amount to families of the dead was $2,200.<ref name="broughton" />

In 2007, 1,029,517 cases were registered and decided. The number of awarded cases was 574,304 and the number of rejected cases was 455,213. Total compensation awarded was {{INRConvert|15465|m}}.<ref name="GovMP">{{cite web|title=Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department|publisher=Government of Madhya Pradesh|access-date=30 August 2012|date=5 December 2008|url=http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705095709/http://www.mp.gov.in/bgtrrdmp|archive-date=5 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 24 June 2010, the [[Union Cabinet]] of the [[Government of India]] approved a {{INRConvert|12650|m}} aid package which would be funded by Indian taxpayers through the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bhopal-gas-tragedy-extra-aid-to-help-just-42000-victims_1400833 |title=Bhopal gas tragedy: Extra aid to help just 42,000 victims&nbsp;— India&nbsp;— DNA |publisher=DNA news |date=24 June 2010 |access-date=28 August 2012 |first=Anil |last=Anand |archive-date=21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121032747/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bhopal-gas-tragedy-extra-aid-to-help-just-42000-victims_1400833 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Other impacts===
In 1985, [[Henry Waxman]], an American politician, called for a U.S. government inquiry into the Bhopal disaster, which resulted in U.S. legislation regarding the accidental release of toxic chemicals in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|title=BP, Bhopal and the humble Indian brinjal|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/BP-Bhopal-and-the-humble-Indian-brinjal/Article1-561254.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125081836/http://www.hindustantimes.com/BP-Bhopal-and-the-humble-Indian-brinjal/Article1-561254.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 January 2013|access-date=26 June 2010|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=22 June 2010|author=Dipankar De Sarkar}}</ref>