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Manmade Disasters: Environmental Studies

The document discusses different types of man-made disasters including local disasters like train accidents and industrial disasters caused by chemical leaks. It provides details about two major industrial disasters: the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India where a gas leak killed thousands, and the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine, the worst nuclear power plant accident, exposing many to radiation and increasing cancer rates in the affected areas. Prevention measures discussed include training plant personnel, maintaining safety systems, evacuation planning, and providing long-term medical care to victims.

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81 views14 pages

Manmade Disasters: Environmental Studies

The document discusses different types of man-made disasters including local disasters like train accidents and industrial disasters caused by chemical leaks. It provides details about two major industrial disasters: the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India where a gas leak killed thousands, and the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine, the worst nuclear power plant accident, exposing many to radiation and increasing cancer rates in the affected areas. Prevention measures discussed include training plant personnel, maintaining safety systems, evacuation planning, and providing long-term medical care to victims.

Uploaded by

17 KAUSTUBHI SHIMPI
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MANMADE

DISASTERS

ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES
Group Members

 Sanket Gaikwad

 Kaustubhi Shimpi
 Manthan Mithagari
INDEX

• What is Man-made disasters

• Types of Man-made disasters

• Bhopal Gas Tragedy (BGT)

• Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster


What is Man-made disasters?

Man-made disasters are the result of carelessness or human errors during


technological and industrial use. The disasters are in the form of accidents, which
occur all of a sudden and take a huge toll on life and property. Mostly such disasters
cause injuries, diseases and casualties where they occur.
Types of Man-made disasters

Man-made disasters are mainly of two types:

 Local disasters:

These are small-scale disasters such as train accidents, plane crashes and shipwrecks.

 Industrial and technological disasters:

These are much larger in scale and are the result of technology failures or industrial accidents. Such disasters affect
both local population and may even cover a much larger area. Industrial disasters result due to accidental leakage of
water or air pollutants. Many of the chemicals are extremely toxic and carcinogenic which affect the human
population in an adverse way. Some people die instantly while others are crippled for whole life in the form of
blindness, paralysis and many other chronic diseases.
Impact on the environment:

Leakage of toxic chemicals from the industries and accidents in the nuclear reactors has short-term and
long-term effects on the environment and human health. Short-term effects on human health relate to
casualties and diseases like blindness, cancer, paralysis, heart trouble, gastric and respiratory abnormalities.
Long-term effects include genetic imbalances in humans and its impact on the future generations. Soil and
water sources also remain polluted for long durations of time.

Prevention, control and mitigation:

Man-made disasters can be minimized to a large extent by adopting the


following measures:
1. Proper training of personnel working in the hazardous industries.

2. Proper maintenance and care of safety measures.

3. Removing human encroachments around hazardous industries.

4. Making the people aware about the first-aid methods in case of accidents.

5. Applying wet cloth over the mouth and nose in case of gas leakages minimizes the health
hazards.

6. Remaining indoors in case of radioactive accidents.

7. Providing the people with proper medical care, in some cases throughout their life.

8. Providing adequate compensation to the affected people by way of money and


employment.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy (BGT):
 The most serious industrial disaster occurred on December 3, 1984 at Bhopal, India, which is known as the
Bhopal Gas Tragedy (BGT). The Bhopal gas tragedy occurred due to leakage of methyl isocyanide (MIC)
gas from the factory of Union Carbide of India Ltd. MIC gas is used as an ingredient in pesticides.
 It leaked from the factory and formed the deadly cloud over Bhopal. People living in slums in the vicinity of
the factory were the most affected and more than 5000 people were killed, half of them due to direct
exposure and other half due to after affects. MIC is a colourless gas which causes severe irritation, violent
coughing, swelling of the lungs, bleeding and death due to direct inhalation. It also caused loss of eye-sight
in more than 1000 people. More than 50,000 people were affected with respiratory, eye, gastric, neurological
and gynaecological problems
 Another technological disaster is due to the potential damages of nuclear fallout. An example is the
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster:
 This nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was one of the largest power plants in the
Ukrainian Republic of erstwhile USSR, on April 26, 1986. It is the worst nuclear disaster recorded in a nuclear power plant.
This nuclear power plant had four reactors of 1000 megawatt each for electricity generation. A sudden power surge resulted in
two explosions, which destroyed the reactor core and blasted a large hole in the roof of the reactor building.
 The Radioactive debris moved up through that hole to heights of 1 km. Approximately 100 to 150 million curies of radiation
(radioactive isotopes of iodine and caesium) escaped into the atmosphere. To reduce emissions, the rescue team bombarded the
reactor with 5,000 metric tonnes of shielding material consisting of lead, boron, sand and clay. Soviet officials placed the toll of
human lives to 31.
 However, according to western estimates, 2000 people were killed. Large areas of the Ukrainian, Byelorussia Republics of the
USSR and even parts of Poland, Denmark and Sweden were contaminated. Around 200,000 people had to be evacuated and
resettled. The after affects lasted for many years and a rise in the incidence of thyroid and blood cancer has been observed in a
wide group of people. Other affects on the human health included skin diseases, hair loss, nausea, anemia, respiratory and
reproductive diseases.
Disaster Impact Management
Name

Earthquake

Flood
Bhopal Gas
Tragedy (BGT)

Chernobyl
Nuclear Disaster

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