Towards the end of 1984, more than 40 tons of methyl isocyante (MIC) chemical gas spilled from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India. The accident, commonly dubbed ‘The Bhopal Disaster,’ created a dense cloud that enveloped a population of more than half a million people, exposing more than that number of people to toxic gases. The industrial disaster immediately killed 2.259 people. Approximately 8,000- 10,000 died within 72 hours.

According to Greenpeace, ‘people woke in their homes to fits of coughing, their lungs filling with fluid. More than 8,000 people were killed in just the first 3 days following the spill, mainly from cardiac and respiratory arrest.’ To date, the total death toll could be placed at an estimate of 75,000.

Union Carbide negotiated a damages settlement with the Indian government in 1989 for $470 million. The amount actually translated to a paltry $370 to $533 per victim. The company has since merged with another chemical giant Dow and continues to ignore bigger liabilities and refuses to initiate a massive toxic cleanup. Thousands of people still live in the vicinity where the gas spilled. A new generation continues to get sick because of the toxic poisons that are still present in the region’s groundwater and soil.

On the 25th anniversary of the world’s worst industrial disaster, a sarcastic and critical environmental and health awareness campaign has been launched.

The beautifully designed line of bottled water named B’eau Pal actually comes from the contaminated groundwater of Bhopal. The campaign is meant to scare and spite the company that is liable for the disaster that refuses to take complete responsibility to this day.

Via osocio