The area around the Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal, where the deadly gas leak occurred 40 years ago, has seen significant changes. Once on the outskirts, the site is now surrounded by residential and commercial developments.
Over the past four decades, real estate in Bhopal has grown slowly and unevenly, with the Bhopal Gas Tragedy slowing the city's development compared to other state capitals.
Today, a large shopping mall and many residential colonies stand just 4 km from the disaster site, despite ongoing pollution concerns, including soil and groundwater contamination caused by the tragedy.
The gas leak from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant on the night of December 2-3, 1984, killed 5,479 people and harmed over 500,000 others.
At that time, the factory was located on the outskirts of the city, but now, as former corporator Vishnu Rathore explained, it’s in the middle of urban development, with hundreds of colonies and shopping outlets surrounding it.
Although the area is still underdeveloped, real estate has thrived nearby. According to Manoj Singh Meek, head of CREDAI Bhopal, about 100 residential colonies and a population of 300,000 have emerged in the northern part of the city near the former factory site over the last 40 years.
However, the gas leak caused long-term damage to Bhopal's development. After the disaster, many people left the city due to health fears and contamination concerns.
Over time, though, the population stabilised and grew as urbanisation and economic opportunities increased. By 1991, Bhopal saw a gradual return of residents, despite initial fears.
The development near the site has been cautious due to lingering contamination, with the Union Carbide plant site largely abandoned. However, urban expansion in peripheral areas has led to more development away from the site.
Shubhashis Banerjee, former chairman of the Institute of Town Planners India, pointed out that much of the development near the plant has been illegal, driven by compensation payments after the tragedy, which boosted the local economy.
While some steps were taken to preserve the site, like plans for a memorial, those projects were never fully realised. Banerjee said the government's response to the tragedy, which prompted stricter environmental laws, slowed industrial growth in India.
Rachna Dhingra, of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, said that after the construction of an overbridge near the Union Carbide plant, large-scale development in the area followed. However, she criticised the handling of toxic waste at the site and pointed out that even part of the toxic waste pond had been encroached upon.
In 2010, the government planned to move residents from the dangerous areas near the factory, allocating ₹40 crore, but the plan was abandoned. Dhingra blamed politicians for failing to address the ongoing contamination and poor living conditions around the gas leak site.
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