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RAS question

India's Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984) involved leakage of:

Correct answer: (D) Methyl Isocyanate (MIC).

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 2-3 December 1984 involved a leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal.

  1. (A)

    Chlorine gas

  2. (B)

    Carbon monoxide

  3. (C)

    Ammonia

  4. (D)

    Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)

Explanation

The leaked substance was methyl isocyanate (MIC), not an ordinary industrial gas. The ICMR report identifies the disaster as arising from the Union Carbide Methyl Isocyanate plant in Bhopal and describes a runaway chemical reaction in stored MIC at the UCIL pesticide plant, followed by a massive release of toxic gases over a densely populated area. The leak occurred on 2-3 December 1984, caused at least 3,787 official deaths and affected more than 5 lakh people, making it the world's worst industrial disaster. For RAS, the key is to connect the event to MIC and to later strengthening of India's environmental and industrial safety laws.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) The ICMR report does not identify chlorine gas as the offending chemical in the Bhopal disaster; the report repeatedly traces the episode to MIC at the Union Carbide plant.
  • (B) Carbon monoxide is discussed in the report as a possible product linked to MIC decomposition, but the substance that leaked from the plant was methyl isocyanate.
  • (C) Ammonia is specifically treated as a different example of a single-chemical leakage, while the Bhopal disaster is tied to MIC and its runaway reaction in Tank 610 E.

Concept

This tests the Science and Technology link between industrial chemicals, disasters and environmental regulation. RAS repeats such examples because major accidents often become anchors for questions on safety law, public health and applied chemistry.

Source

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