CHEMICAL DISASTER

India is developing as a key global player in the industrial and technology sector. Rapid industrialization has increased the hazard, risk and vulnerability to the industry and the environment. Major Chemical (Industrial) disasters are low in frequency but are very significant in the terms of loss of lives, injuries, environmental impact and property damage. Frequency and severity of chemical disasters has increased in last few years due to rapid development of chemical and petrochemical industries and increase in size of plants, storage and carriers, specifically in densely populated areas. There are more than 1500 MAH units and other small and medium–sized industries all across the nation and new industries are also establishing at a rapid rate. Chemical accidents can occur due to lack of safety measure, technical break down, or due to a human error. It, thereby, initiates a series of uncontrolled physiochemical phenomenon such as runaway chemical reactions, large spills, fires and explosions. These phenomenon eventually targets both human and non-human in the form of immediate and residual or long term consequences. Thus, it is imperative to develop preventive measures like adoption of safer engineering practices, improved performance of safety device and reduction of human errors by regular checks.

With the renewed emphasis of the Government on disaster management and the paradigm shift in focus from rescue, relief & rehabilitation to prevention/mitigation, and preparedness a need to revisit the management of Chemical Disaster has been felt to establish an institutionalized mechanism so that the chemical disaster can be prevented and if occurred can be effectively managed. The main stakeholders in the management of Chemical (Industrial) Disasters are the Chemical Industries, Ministry of Environment and Forests (the nodal Ministry), Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Surface Transport and Highways, Ministry of Defence, Department of Atomic Energy, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ministry of Petroleum and Gas, Central and State Pollution Control Board and State Governments.

After the enactment of National Disaster Management Act, 2005, National Disaster Management Authority is required to prepare Guidelines, based on which, the Nodal Ministry will prepare a detailed Action Plan for the better and effective management of Chemical disasters. In view of achieving this objective, a meeting on Chemical (Industrial) Disaster Management was convened by NDMA on 17th Feb 2006 with various Ministries of Government of India and all other stakeholders. In this workshop the present status of the Chemical (Industrial) Disaster Management in the country was discussed and the critical gaps were identified. It was decided to articulate the CDM guidelines through a document called the National Disaster Management Guidelines – Chemical Disaster (NDMG-CD). A Core Group of the experts from the various fields related to chemical disaster management was constituted under the chairmanship of Lt. Gen (Dr.) J.R. Bhardwaj, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, PHS (Retd) to assist NDMA in the preparation of NDMG-CD. Several meetings were held to review the draft versions of the document and wider consultations with industries, regulatory bodies, along with concerned ministries was also held to evolve a consensus on the various issues of the Guidelines. A meeting to critically analyze and update by more than 150 industrial and other experts from all across the nation was also held on 7-8 September, 2006 at Bhopal in collaboration with Disaster Management Institute, Bhopal. The concepts of On-Site and Off-Site Disaster Management Plans were also evaluated by a mock drill at Hindustan Petroleum Company Limited, Greater Noida on 6th Oct, 2006. The guidelines has the major objective to evolve an attainable, achievable and a practical approach with due diligence of community, industry and all other governmental agencies for chemical disaster management in India. At present, the guideline document is under finalization and would be issued soon.