RAS question
National Pollution Control Day is observed in India on December 2 every year in memory of which industrial disaster?
Correct answer: (B) Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984.
National Pollution Control Day is observed in India on December 2 in memory of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984.
Explanation
National Pollution Control Day is tied to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of December 2-3, 1984. The disaster occurred after methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited plant in Bhopal, making it the reference point for India's annual reminder on industrial pollution control. This is why December 2 is not just a general environment day: it marks the memory of the victims of the world's worst industrial disaster. The Environment Protection Act, 1986 was enacted in its aftermath, so the date also connects disaster memory with India's later environmental-regulatory response.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Vishakhapatnam gas leak happened in 2020, whereas National Pollution Control Day commemorates the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of December 2-3, 1984.
- (C) The Kasargod Endosulfan disaster is not the industrial disaster linked to December 2; the observance is tied to the MIC gas leak at the UCIL plant in Bhopal.
- (D) The Chasnala mining disaster of 1975 was a mining disaster, while this observance specifically remembers the Bhopal Gas Tragedy caused by a methyl isocyanate leak.
Concept
This tests environment history and disaster-management awareness, especially the link between a major industrial accident and later environmental regulation. RAS often repeats such questions because dates, disasters and statutory follow-up form a compact governance theme.