Necessity of Land Use Regulations and Governance for human safety : Case Study of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984
Shrabana Das
It has been thirty years since the worldds worst Industrial disaster took place in Bhopal on 3rd December, 1984. While the victims still await justice, the cause of the leak of the poisonous Methyl Isocyanate is still not clear. While laws such as the Environment Protection Act, 1986 have been passed to avoid such disasters in future, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy could have been scaled down or even averted, had the factory of Union Carbide been allotted land in the obnoxious industry land use as per the Bhopal Development Plan, 1991. The document had legal significance under the Madhya Pradesh Nagar Tatha Gram Nivesh Adhiniyam, 1973. Instead, the factory was set up in the land allocated for general industryy, surrounded by residential and commercial land. Along with the residents of the nearby area, Arif Nagar, the neighbouring land attracted migrant worker population due to industry. This led to the high number of affected people in the disaster. There was a requirement of an industrial license which was granted to Union Carbide by the Central Government for setting up the pesticide plant in the general industry zone. Going against the advice of the then local authorities, the plant was erected in the controversial site, leading to the disaster. Moreover, the only legal provision the company could be tried under was the Indian Penal Code.
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