Bhopal - 4. Bhopal on the Brink of Disaster - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

The Bhopal gas tragedy was the worlds worst industrial accident. Tens of thousands of people died and many more suffered long term illnesses when lethal methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant in the city in central India on 2nd December 1984.

For the previous two years one man had been predicting that Bhopal was an accident waiting to happen. Forty years ago this month the Bhopali journalist Rajkumar Keswani wrote his first article warning of the dangers posed by safety lapses at the plant. During a dogged investigation pitting him against political power, corporate money and the indifference of the media and public opinion, he never gave up. This cinematic documentary series tells his story for the first time.

Episode 4. Bhopal on the Brink of Disaster

Keswani decides he must get the attention of law makers and show them his evidence. His safety concerns are raised in the State Assembly but the labour minister at the time bats them away giving Keswani the sense that Union Carbide is unimpeachable.

He then petitions the Supreme Court of India, but gets no reply.

Feeling somewhat defeated and with increasing financial woes, Keswani decides to take a steady job at a newspaper in a nearby city.

But soon enough his conscience drags him back to Bhopal where he writes to the editors of national newspapers. He gets a big break, publishing a comprehensive account of his findings in a leading national daily. He waits for a response.

Narrator Narinder Samra
Written and researched by Anubha Yadav and Radhika Kapur
Music and Sound Design by Shreyan Chatterjee
Studio Mix by Donald McDonald
Producer Neil McCarthy

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