In an article published in The Chemical Engineer on Thursday April 1st, chemical engineers Ken Patterson AMIChemE and Fiona Macleod CEng FIChemE discussed the ongoing contamination at the factory site in Bhopal after a letter sent to the Indian Government last year by the President of The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Stephen Richardson, received no constructive response.
Ken Patterson and Fiona Macleod have both themselves visited the factory site in Bhopal, seen the ongoing contamination caused by chemicals from the still un-cleaned chemical plant, and spoken with survivors and local residents about their situation. Both have published pieces in The Chemical Engineer in recent years calling for the support of IChemE members in tackling the issue, the last of which in 2019 resulted in the sending of the letter to Prime Minister Modi’s government last September urging fresh action to address the issue.
Unfortunately, the response received from the Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Department made clear that the government consider the issue to be closed and will take no further action to address contamination at the site. In light of this response, Ken and Fiona are calling upon IChemE members and others to come forward with any proposals or suggestions on how forward progress might be made to finally clean-up the contamination, which still poses a daily health risk to thousands of Bhopalis.
You can read the article in full by clicking here
