A major fire at a chemical company in Maharashtra’s  Pune killed 12 people on June 7, 2021. The incident happened at the SVS Aqua Technologies located near Pirangut in Mulshi taluk of Pune district. The company produces chlorine dioxide tablets for water purification.

Here’s a look at major industrial disasters in India:

Bhopal gas leak: Night of Dec 2-3, 1984

Death toll: 5,295

The methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were exposed to the deadly gas. The toxic substance made its way in and around the shanty towns located near the plant.

Almost 36 years since the gas leak tragedy, there is no clarity on the number of dead and affected. Activists peg the death toll between 20,000 and 25,000 while the government lists 5,295 deaths.

Abnormalities and defects at birth are still being reported in the affected areas.

Bombay docks explosion: April 14, 1944

Death toll: 800

Two explosions shook the Victoria Dock of Mumbai (then Bombay) in April 1944, when a freighter carrying a cargo of gold, ammunition, including 1400 tonnes of explosives, and other items caught fire. Ships in the area sank on impact and windows of buildings in 12 km radius were shattered.

The shower of burning material set fire to slums in the area. Around 2 sq km  area was on fire.

Chasnala mining disaster: Dec 27, 1975

Death toll: 372

The accident was caused by an explosion in the mines in Dhanbad, Jharkhand that caused the cave roof to collapse. This led to water surging into the mine trapping miners under debris. The blast was most likely caused by sparks from equipment that ignited a pocket of flammable methane gas.

The local workers’ union put the death toll at 700 people. The Chasnala Colliery’s record of miners was not updated and many bodies were never recovered, so there is no way of knowing how many miners actually perished in the accident

Dhanbad mine disaster: May 28, 1965

Death toll: 268

An explosion in Dhori colliery near Dhanbad, Jharkhand led to a fire in the mines  killing 268 people.

Korba chimney collapse: September 23, 2009

Death toll: 40

A 240-metre tall chimney under construction at the Bharat Aluminium Co Ltd (BALCO) in Korba, Chhattisgarh, collapsed on 100 workers who had been taken shelter there from a

Jaipur Oil Depot fire: October 29, 2009

Death toll: 12

The incident occurred when petrol was being transferred from the Indian Oil Corporation’s oil depot in Sitapura Industrial Area on the outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan, to a pipeline. There were at least 40 IOC employees at the terminal at the time of explosion. The tremor caused by the explosion shattered glass windows nearly 3 kilometres from the accident site.

Visakhapatnam gas leak: May 7, 2020 

Death toll: 12

Early morning on May 7, styrene gas leaked from chemical factory LG Polymers India in the industrial port city in the state of Andhra Pradesh killing 12 people and exposing thousands to its ill effects.

The accident brought back memories of the gas leak from a Union Carbide plat in Bhopal that killed more than 5000 people and left thousands more with acute and permanent disabilities.