Claim A single official total is 20,000 dead on the night.
Timeline beat 1969 — UCIL plant at Bhopal
The night-time official figure commonly cited is 2,259. Five-figure totals are later attributions or campaign estimates and must be dated.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Notoriety88
Mystery22
Scale96
Evidence70
Legal impact72
Culture68
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Quick answers
What leaked at Bhopal?
Methyl isocyanate from a storage tank at the UCIL pesticide plant on the night of 2–3 December 1984. The page does not discuss how to handle or release the chemical. The public fact is an uncontrolled urban exposure.
How many people died?
The official immediate death toll often cited is 2,259. Indian government statements later used about 3,500 deaths in the first days and more than 15,000 gas-related deaths over the following years. Campaign estimates run higher. All of these are dated published figures, not a single census.
What was the 1989 settlement?
UCC paid US$470 million to the Union of India under Supreme Court orders of 14–15 February 1989 to resolve civil claims. Criminal proceedings were first quashed and later revived. Distribution of the money to claimants took years and remains criticised.
Who was convicted?
On 7 June 2010 a Bhopal court convicted seven former UCIL officials, including chairman Keshub Mahindra, and the Indian company of causing death by negligence (IPC 304A) and related counts. Sentences were two years and fines. An eighth accused had died. Warren Anderson was not in the dock.
Why is the status “mixed”?
Civil claims were settled; criminal law produced only negligence convictions of Indian employees; the American parent executive was never tried in India; the factory site’s contamination file is not closed. Those outcomes do not add to a single word like convicted or closed.
What Indian laws followed?
The 1985 claims-processing Act, the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and the Public Liability Insurance Act 1991. Together they centralised claimant representation, environmental rule-making and no-fault industrial insurance.
The release lasts hours. The docket lasts decades.
English anniversary timelines often jump from 1984 to 1989 and omit the 1996 reduction that explains the 2010 sentence length.
Timeline
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
- UCIL plant at Bhopal
Union Carbide’s Indian subsidiary opens a pesticide works that later adds MIC production.
- MIC unit in service
Local storage of methyl isocyanate begins, tying the city’s risk to a single intermediate.
- Tank 610 release
MIC escapes over adjoining wards. Official immediate deaths are later put at 2,259.
- Anderson arrested, released
The UCC chief executive’s short detention and departure become a lasting extradition file.
- Claims Act
Parliament makes the Union of India the exclusive representative of gas-leak claimants.
- Environment (Protection) Act
Central environmental legislation is enacted in the disaster’s aftermath.
- $470 million settlement
The Supreme Court records UCC’s payment and, at first, also quashes criminal cases.
- Charges reduced to 304A
The Supreme Court holds that Indian accused may be tried for death by negligence, not culpable homicide.
- Dow acquires UCC
The successor company inherits the argument over whether any parent duty remains.
- Bhopal convictions
Seven UCIL officials and the Indian company receive two-year terms under IPC 304A and related sections.
Claim versus timeline
Each public-record claim on this dossier sits beside the timeline chapter already on the page.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
Claim No one was ever convicted.
Timeline beat 1979–80 — MIC unit in service
Seven UCIL officials and the Indian company were convicted on 7 June 2010. The sentences were two years under a reduced charge.
Claim The 1989 payment was secretly imposed without a court.
Timeline beat 2–3 Dec 1984 — Tank 610 release
The Supreme Court of India recorded and supervised the settlement, then faced review because criminal cases had been quashed.
Claim The cause of the leak is unknown.
Timeline beat Dec 1984 — Anderson arrested, released
An MIC release from Tank 610 is established. Remaining argument is about water ingress, safeguards and corporate knowledge — not about whether a leak occurred.
Beat weight marks
Mark each timeline beat already on this dossier as supported, contested or unknown, using the public-record claims already filed here. Not a verdict.
Editorial marks on this device only. Public-record encyclopedia — not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
| Timeline beat | Supported / Contested / Unknown |
|---|---|
| 1969 — UCIL plant at Bhopal Claim already on file: A single official total is 20,000 dead on the night. | |
| 1979–80 — MIC unit in service Claim already on file: No one was ever convicted. | |
| 2–3 Dec 1984 — Tank 610 release Claim already on file: The 1989 payment was secretly imposed without a court. | |
| Dec 1984 — Anderson arrested, released Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. | |
| 1985 — Claims Act Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. | |
| 1986 — Environment (Protection) Act Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. | |
| 14 Feb 1989 — $470 million settlement Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. | |
| 1996 — Charges reduced to 304A Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. | |
| 2001 — Dow acquires UCC Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. | |
| 7 Jun 2010 — Bhopal convictions Claim already on file: The cause of the leak is unknown. |
After 2010 the criminal file against those Indian accused is a judgment. The site file is not.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.