B4F009 Pages: 2

(b) How transactional leadership and transformational leadership differs each other?

(3)

PART 8
Read the article and answer the questions given below.

It occurred on the night of 2-3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India
Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people
were exposed to Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals. A runaway
reaction had occurred in a storage tank of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC), which was used
to manufacture a pesticide. The valves of the tank had burst, and a cloud of poisonous
gas had escaped. The winds carried it to nearby shanty towns and the populous city of
Bhopal, where thousands of people either died in their sleep or woke and died while
fleeing. Those who survived suffered from burning eyes and lungs. Local medical
facilities were not equipped for the disaster, and over the next few weeks thousands
more died.

The killer gas spread through the city, sending residents scurrying through the
dark streets. No alarm ever sounded a warning, so that local people were not informed
the situation, and no evacuation plan was prepared. When victims arrived at hospitals
breathless and blind, doctors did not know how to treat them, as UCIL had not
provided emergency information.

Perhaps most importantly at the time of the tragedy, the staff did not realize
the gravity of the situation and even took a break for tea after the leak had been
noticed, thinking they would have plenty of time to fix it. The operator in the control
room did not notify his supervisor when the temperature began to rise inside the tank
and the entire situation remained unattended for at least an hour.

The disaster raised some serious ethical issues. The pesticide factory was built
in the midst of densely populated settlements. UCIL chose to store and produce MIC,
one of the most deadly chemicals (permitted exposure levels in USA and Britain are
0.02 parts per million), in an area where nearly 120,000 people lived.

The MIC plant was not designed to handle a runaway reaction. When the uncontrolled
reaction started, MIC was flowing through the scrubber (meant to neutralize MIC
emissions) at more than 200 times its designed capacity.

(i) Do you think UCIL is responsible for the disaster? Why? (4)

(ii) Discuss the communication failures occurred in the case resulting in the
tragedy. (4)

(iii) As an engineer, comment on the drawback of the design which may have the
reason for the tragedy. (4)

(iv) What are all the ethical issues involved in the case? (4)

(v) “The pesticide factory was built in the midst of densely populated
settlements”. Analyze and comment on this statement. (2)

(vi) Imagine you were in the engineering design team of this plant. What could
you have altered the design in concern with safety? (2)

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