The chemical industry should step up in protecting human rights to avoid disasters that expose people to numerous diseases or disabilities, such as 1984 gas leak incident in India's Bhopal
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) The chemical industry should step up in protecting human rights to avoid disasters that expose people to numerous diseases or disabilities, such as 1984 gas leak incident in India's Bhopal, UN Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes Baskut Tuncak said on Thursday in a statement, reacting to the recent leakage of toxic gas from a chemical plant in the Andhra Pradesh state.
The incident at the plant owned and operated by South Korean company LG Chem took place in Visakhapatnam city on May 7 and, according to the UN, resulted in 12 people dying and more than 1,000 falling ill. The leaked substance was styrene, which is used to make plastics and can cause cancer and neurological damage. Following the leakage, the authorities launched a probe and asked local residents to refrain from leaving home, wear wet masks and, if possible, leave the neighborhood.
"The latest disaster has rightly drawn parallels to the toxic gas leak that killed thousands in Bhopal, India, in 1984, involving another trans-national chemical company, Union Carbide of the United States. It also illustrates the range of human rights infringements brought by our rampant consumption and production of plastics," UN Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes Baskut Tuncak said, as quoted by the statement.
Tuncak urged the industry and countries' authorities to be fully transparent and ensure that those responsible for such incidents are punished.
"I offer my deepest condolences to the victims of this latest toxic gas leak. It is yet another preventable disaster within the chemical industry that has caused horrific suffering among innocent workers and local communities in India and is yet another reminder that around the world, mini-Bhopal chemical disasters continue to unfold with shocking regularity," he wrote.
The deadliest-ever gas leak incident occurred in the Indian city of Bhopal in December 1984. The leak of methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide India Limited plant left at least 3,787 people dead and more than 500,000 injured.
