On the night of December 2–3, 1984, in Bhopal, India, a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide leaked 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas into the air. The toxic cloud spread silently across the sleeping city, suffocating thousands within hours. Victims awoke choking, their eyes burning, their lungs collapsing.

The immediate toll was horrific: 3,000–8,000 deaths in the first days. Over time, more than 15,000 people were officially recorded dead, with half a million survivors suffering long-term health problems including lung disease, blindness, reproductive disorders, and birth defects in later generations. Even decades later, contaminated soil and water around the abandoned plant continued to poison communities.

Legal and moral accountability became a global controversy. Union Carbide paid a $470 million settlement in 1989—widely seen as inadequate—and its successor, Dow Chemical, has faced continuing pressure to fund cleanup and compensation.

The Bhopal disaster stands as a grim reminder of the dangers of negligence and corporate cost-cutting. It reshaped industrial safety laws worldwide and highlighted the need for stronger protections for vulnerable communities. Yet, for survivors in Bhopal, justice and healing remain incomplete, as the tragedy’s shadow still lingers nearly four decades later.