Very Short Answer Type Questions
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What is the worth of an Indian worker? [V. Imp.]
Answer: One worker can easily replace another. Since there is so much unemployment, there are many workers who are willing to work in unsafe conditions in return for a wage. Making use of the worker’s vulnerability, employers ignore safety in workplaces. Thus, even so many years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, there are regular reports of accidents in construction sites, mines or factories due to the ruthless attitude of the employers.
2. How was the environment viewed before the Bhopal gas tragedy?
Answer: The environment was treated as a free entity and any industry could pollute the air and water without any restrictions. Whether it was our rivers, air, groundwater the environment was being polluted and the health of people disregarded. In 1984, there were very few laws protecting the environment in India, and there was hardly any enforcement of these laws. It was the Bhopal gas disaster that brought the issue of environment to the forefront.
3: What were the reasons for the Bhopal tragedy?
Answer: The Union Carbide tank’s alarms had not worked for 4 years. The steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes, was out of action and water sprays designed to “knock down” gas leaks were poorly designed. No action plans had been established to cope with incidents of this magnitude. The local authorities were not informed of the quantities or dangers of chemicals used and manufactured at the factory. These were the reasons for the Bhopal tragedy.
4: What are the reasons for the sharp differences in safety standards between the 2 Union carbide factories in the USA and India?
Answer: India has a high rate of unemployment and due to this workers are willing to work in unsafe conditions. One worker can easily replace another due to over population. Ignorance and the vulnerability of Indian workers is also another reason why the safety standards in the Indian factory were very much lower than the factory in USA.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. Write the adverse effects of orders on environmental issues given by courts. What can be done to make environment safe? [V. Imp.]
Answer: We can explain it with an example. The courts directed industries in residential areas in Delhi to close down or shift out of the city. Several of these industries were polluting the neighbourhood and discharge from these industries was polluting the river Yamuna, because they had been set up without following the rules.
The court’s action solved one problem no doubt but at the same time it created another problem, i.e. the problem of livelihood. Because of the closure, many workers lost their jobs. Others were forced to go to far-away places where these factories had relocated. And the same problem now began to come up in these areas—for now these places became polluted. And the issue of the safety conditions of workers remained unaddressed. Environment is a public facility. Hence it must be given due attention. We must think how we can make our environment clean. One way this can be done is to gradually move to cleaner technologies and processes in factories. The government has to encourage and support factories to do this. It will need to impose fine on those who pollute. This will ensure that the workers’ livelihoods are protected and both workers and communities living around the factories enjoy a safe environment.
2: How do government certifications like the ISI certification help the consumer?
3: Write a brief note on the Bhopal gas tragedy.
4: In what way was the Government responsible for the Bhopal tragedy?
