Bhopal gas tragedy, 1984. Official death toll: 5,295

Considered one of the worst industrial disasters the world has ever seen, the Bhopal gas tragedy took place on the night of December 2-3, 1984. Around 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide plant owned by US multinational Union Carbide Corp in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over half a million people were exposed to the toxic substance.

While activists peg the death figures between 20,000 and 25,000, the government in 2010 sought compensation for 5,295 deaths from the US firm now owned by Dow Chemicals.

Fire broke out in SAIL’s flagship integrated Bhilai Steel Plant in Durg, Chhattisgarh on following an explosion. PTI file photo

A survivor who lost her family and eyesight, attends a rally to mark the 26th year of the Bhopal gas disaster in Bhopal in 2010. The Bhopal Museum, an ode to the creativity of the survivors, does not see resistance terminally but as an invitation to future defiance Shutterstock

Mayapuri radiological incident, 2010. Official death toll: 1

In 2010, radioactive substances leaked from equipment which was auctioned to scrap dealers in west Delhi’s Mayapuri. One person was killed and at least eight others were hospitalised.

The gas leak at a LG Polymers plant at Gopalapatnam, on the outskirts of Vishakhapatnam on Thursday morning, killing 11 people, is only the latest in a long list of industrial disasters in the country.

Nowhere near in scale as the Bhopal gas tragedy that activists said claimed more than 20,000 people, the leak at the plant of a subsidiary of a South Korean firm, thankfully involves a gas (Styrene, an alkaline benzene compound) whose effects are minimal in the long-term, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has said.

School students are being treated at a hospital in New Delhi after a gas leak from a container depot in near their school. PTI file photo

Flames and smoke rise on the third day of a fire at an oil depot, in Jaipur, India, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. PTI file photo

Jaipur oil depot fire, 2009. Official death toll: 12

On October 29, 2009, a massive fire broke out at the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)’s depot at Sitapura Industrial Area, on the outskirts of Jaipur, killing 12 people and injuring over 200. The fire began in a giant tank holding 8,000 kilolitres of oil and raged for over a week. Nearly half a million people had to be evacuated. The accident took place when petrol was being transferred from the depot to a pipeline.

Delhi gas leak, 2017

Around 470 schoolchildren were hospitalised after inhaling poisonous fumes that spread due to a chemical leak at a container depot in Tughlaqabad in Delhi. The students complained of irritation in eyes, breathlessness, nausea and severe headache.

Gail pipeline blast, 2014. Official death toll: 15

On 27 June 2014, a massive fire broke out following a blast in the underground gas pipeline maintained by the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) at Nagaram, East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. At least 15 people were killed and over 40 were injured.

Bhilai steel plant blast, 2018. Official death toll: 9

Nine persons were killed and at least 14 injured when a blast took place at Steel Authority of India (SAIL)’s Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh in 2018. The bodies were so badly charred that they could only be identified by DNA test.

In May 2015, NGT ordered that all “illegally and unauthorisedly operating scrap industries in Mayapuri generating chemicals, oils and poisonous fumes resulting in air pollution, deaths and diseases at large scale” be shut. PTI file photo

The Gail pipeline blast, 2014. Telegraph file photo

Shaheed Smarak, or memorial to those killed in Chasnala. PTI file photo

Chasnala mining disaster, 1975. Official death toll: 372

In December 1975, one of the country’s worst mining disasters took place in the Chasnala Colliery in Dhanbad, Jharkhand killing 372 miners. An explosion most likely caused by sparks from equipment igniting a pocket of methane gas was so severe that the mine collapsed and millions of gallons of water from a nearby reservoir rushed into the pits. Those miners who weren't killed in the blast were drowned as the water quickly filled the mine. Rescue operations continued for over three weeks but there were no survivors. While the local workers’ union claimed a death toll of over 700, the government’s official toll is 372.

Korba chimney collapse, 2009. Official death toll: 45

In September 2009, an under-construction chimney at a Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) power plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh, collapsed killing 45 people.

Bhilai steel plant gas leak, 2001. Official death toll: 6

In June 2014, there was a leak in the methane gas pipeline at SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant. Six persons (all employees of SAIL) were killed and another 40 were injured.