Man-Made Disasters

Chemical · Nuclear · Biological · Oil Spills · Transport · War & Conflict

📄 GS Paper 3🎯 Prelims + Mains⏱ 18 min read📅 Updated June 2026

What Are Man-Made Disasters?

Man-made (or human-induced) disasters are catastrophic events caused primarily by human activity, error, negligence or intent, rather than by natural geophysical or climatic forces. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 deliberately defines a disaster as arising "from natural or man-made causes," placing these events squarely within the same legal and institutional framework as cyclones or earthquakes.

Unlike natural hazards, man-made disasters are in principle preventable — they stem from failures of regulation, design, maintenance, safety culture or crowd control. This makes prevention and mitigation (the "left of the bang" investment) especially powerful, and accountability a central theme. They tend to be sudden-onset, technologically complex, and frequently involve hazardous materials that demand specialised CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) response capabilities.

Core distinction: Natural disasters are triggered by nature and aggravated by human vulnerability; man-made disasters are triggered by humans themselves. The same DM cycle (prevention → mitigation → preparedness → response → recovery) applies, but the emphasis shifts strongly toward regulation, safety codes and corporate/administrative accountability.

Major Categories

Category	Typical Causes	Landmark Indian / Global Cases
Chemical / Industrial	Gas leaks, explosions, reactive runaways, storage failures	Bhopal Gas Tragedy 1984, Vizag styrene leak 2020
Nuclear & Radiological	Reactor accidents, source loss, radiation exposure	Fukushima 2011, Chernobyl 1986 (international reference)
Biological	Epidemics, pandemics, zoonoses, bioterrorism	COVID-19 2020, Nipah (Kerala), Ebola 2014–16
Oil Spills	Tanker collisions, pipeline / rig blow-outs	Ennore (Chennai) oil spill 2017
Transport	Rail, road, aviation, maritime accidents	Balasore (Odisha) triple train crash 2023
Structural / Crowd	Building & bridge collapse, stampedes, fires	Morbi bridge collapse 2022
War & Conflict / CBRN	Armed conflict, terrorism, weaponised agents	Conflict-zone humanitarian crises

Figure 1: The principal families of man-made disasters and their signature cases & legal instruments.

Chemical & Industrial Disasters

Chemical disasters involve the uncontrolled release of toxic, flammable or reactive substances during manufacture, storage, transport or disposal. India's rapid industrialisation, dense settlements around chemical clusters, and gaps in safety enforcement keep this risk high.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984 — World's Worst Industrial Disaster

On the night of 2–3 December 1984, around 40 tonnes of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The dense, heavier-than-air gas drifted over sleeping settlements, killing thousands within hours; total deaths over time are estimated in the tens of thousands, with lakhs left with chronic injuries. It remains the worst industrial disaster in history.

Causes & Lessons

Technical: Water entered an MIC storage tank, triggering a runaway exothermic reaction; the refrigeration unit, flare tower and scrubber meant to neutralise the gas were non-functional.
Managerial: Cost-cutting, poor maintenance, weak safety culture, under-trained staff, oversized storage of an extremely hazardous chemical.
Siting & regulatory: A hazardous plant located beside dense low-income settlements; no community awareness, no emergency or evacuation plan, weak land-use control.
Aftermath: Catalysed India's modern environmental and chemical-safety law — the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and a body of chemical-accident rules.

Vizag (Visakhapatnam) Styrene Gas Leak, 2020

On 7 May 2020, styrene vapour leaked from the LG Polymers plant at Visakhapatnam after a prolonged COVID-19 lockdown shutdown left the chemical improperly stored and temperature control failing. The leak killed about a dozen people and hospitalised hundreds, underscoring that restart safety, storage integrity and off-site emergency planning remain unresolved.

India's Chemical-Safety Framework

Manufacture, Storage & Import of Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) Rules, 1989 — identify Major Accident Hazard (MAH) installations, mandate safety reports and on-site emergency plans.
Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness & Response) Rules, 1996 — set up Crisis Groups at central, state, district and local levels for off-site emergency planning.
Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 — no-fault compensation for victims of hazardous-substance accidents.
NDMA Guidelines on Chemical Disasters (2007) and on Chemical (Terrorism) Disasters — covering prevention, preparedness, mutual-aid and CBRN response.
All under the umbrella of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Factories Act, 1948 (Chapter IVA on hazardous processes, added post-Bhopal).

Prelims hook: Remember the leaked gas — Bhopal = MIC (Methyl Isocyanate); Vizag = Styrene. The 1996 EPPR Rules create the four-tier Crisis Group structure; the 1991 Act provides no-fault liability insurance.

Figure 2: The cascade of technical and managerial failures behind the Bhopal disaster.

Nuclear & Radiological Disasters

Nuclear and radiological emergencies involve the release of ionising radiation from reactors, radioactive sources or weapons. Effects span acute radiation sickness, long-term cancers, genetic damage, and large-scale, long-duration land contamination requiring evacuation.

International Reference Cases

Fukushima Daiichi, Japan (2011): Triggered by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that disabled cooling, causing core meltdowns and hydrogen explosions — the defining 21st-century reference for nuclear safety, accelerating global stress-tests and review of coastal reactor siting.
Chernobyl, USSR/Ukraine (1986): A flawed reactor design and operator error produced the worst nuclear accident in history, with vast radioactive fallout and a permanent exclusion zone.

Radiation Hazards

Acute Radiation Syndrome (high-dose, short-term), long-term carcinogenesis, hereditary effects.
Wide-area contamination of soil, water and food chains; psychological and socio-economic dislocation from prolonged evacuation.

India's Nuclear-Safety Regime

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), 1983 — the regulatory authority for radiation and nuclear safety (licensing, inspection, standards).
Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (no-fault, channelled liability to the operator).
NDMA Guidelines on Management of Nuclear & Radiological Emergencies (2009) — covering reactor, transport and "dirty bomb" scenarios, decontamination and medical management.
Layered defences: defence-in-depth reactor design, off-site emergency exercises, the Crisis Management Group of the Department of Atomic Energy, and a network of radiation-monitoring stations.

Prelims hook: AERB is the regulator (set up 1983, under the Atomic Energy Commission); civil nuclear liability is governed by the 2010 Act. India is a party to the IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Conventions on Early Notification & Assistance.

Biological Disasters — Epidemics & Pandemics

Biological disasters arise from the outbreak of disease in humans, animals or plants — whether natural epidemics, zoonotic spillovers, pandemics, or deliberate bioterrorism. They are slow-building yet vast in reach, straining health systems and the entire administrative machinery.

COVID-19 (2020) — Governance Lessons

The COVID-19 pandemic was the first time the Disaster Management Act, 2005 was invoked nationally for a biological/health emergency, with COVID-19 notified as a "disaster" — enabling the use of the State Disaster Response Fund and central coordination via the NDMA/NEC. The colonial-era Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 was used by states (and amended in 2020 to protect healthcare workers).

Key Lessons

Need for a dedicated public-health emergency law (the 1897 Act is thin; reform long discussed).
Importance of surge capacity, supply chains (oxygen, vaccines), data systems, and centre–state coordination.
Migrant-worker crisis exposed gaps in social-protection and last-mile planning.
India's vaccine manufacturing and the CoWIN digital platform became global examples of scale.

Other Biological Threats

Nipah virus (Kerala): Recurrent zoonotic (fruit-bat) outbreaks with high case-fatality, contained through aggressive contact-tracing and isolation — a model of state-level response.
Ebola (West Africa, 2014–16): A global reference on haemorrhagic-fever outbreak control and international health response.
Bioterrorism: Deliberate release of agents (anthrax, etc.) — a CBRN concern requiring surveillance and rapid-response capacity.

Framework: NDMA's Guidelines on Management of Biological Disasters (2008), the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) form the backbone of India's biological-disaster preparedness, increasingly framed under "One Health."

Figure 3: How India's biological-disaster governance moved from detection to recovery during COVID-19.

Oil Spills

Oil spills are the release of liquid petroleum into the marine or coastal environment, devastating fisheries, mangroves, coral and coastal livelihoods. India's long coastline, busy shipping lanes and offshore exploration make this a standing risk.

Causes & Impacts

Causes: Tanker collisions/groundings, pipeline ruptures, offshore-rig blow-outs, illegal discharge (bilge/ballast), and port-handling accidents.
Marine-ecology damage: Smothering of intertidal life and birds, oxygen depletion, bioaccumulation of toxins, long-term harm to mangroves and breeding grounds, and loss of fishing income and tourism.

Ennore (Chennai) Oil Spill, 2017

In January 2017, a collision between two cargo ships off Ennore/Kamarajar Port spilled heavy oil along the Chennai coast, fouling beaches and harming marine life. The slow, under-prepared initial response exposed weaknesses in spill-detection and clean-up readiness.

NOSDCP — the nodal plan: The National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP), first adopted in 1993 and revised since, makes the Indian Coast Guard the nodal/central coordinating agency for oil-spill response in maritime zones. India is also a party to international conventions (MARPOL, OPRC) on marine-pollution prevention and preparedness.

Figure 4: How a surface oil slick cascades through the marine ecosystem — and the response framework.

Transport Disasters

Transport accidents — by rail, road, air or sea — are among the most frequent man-made disasters, driven by human error, ageing infrastructure, signalling failures and over-crowding.

Rail — Balasore (Odisha) Triple Train Crash, June 2023

On 2 June 2023, a three-train collision at Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore district, Odisha, killed around 290 people and injured over 1,000 — one of India's worst rail disasters in decades. The probe pointed to a signalling/interlocking error. It sharpened the push to roll out Kavach, India's indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system that can apply brakes to prevent collisions.

Road, Aviation & Maritime

Road: India has among the world's highest road-accident fatalities — addressed through the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 and road-safety engineering.
Aviation: Rare but high-fatality; regulated by the DGCA, with mandated emergency-response plans at airports.
Maritime: Ferry capsizes and ship accidents, regulated by the DG Shipping and Coast Guard search-and-rescue.

Bridge — Morbi Suspension Bridge Collapse, Oct 2022 (Gujarat)

On 30 October 2022, a colonial-era pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu river at Morbi, Gujarat, collapsed under crowd overload soon after a poorly-supervised renovation, killing around 135 people. It became a textbook case of structural-safety negligence, overcrowding and lax oversight of renovation/operation contracts.

Stampedes, Fires & Crowd Disasters

Crowd-related disasters recur at religious gatherings, festivals, stadiums and transport hubs. They are highly preventable through crowd-flow design, capacity limits and trained marshals.

Stampede triggers: Over-capacity, narrow/blocked exits, sudden rumour or panic, poor crowd-flow design, lack of barricading and real-time monitoring.
NDMA Guidelines on Crowd / Mass-Gathering Management stress understanding crowd behaviour, capacity planning, signage, CCTV/monitoring and dedicated incident-command.
Fire safety: Governed by the National Building Code (NBC) fire-safety provisions and state fire-service rules — recurring tragedies in hospitals, coaching centres and assembly buildings highlight enforcement gaps in exits, alarms and combustible materials.

Prelims/Mains hook: Crowd and fire disasters are classic "preventable, governance-failure" examples — link them to enforcement of codes, capacity audits and the District Disaster Management Authority's role in permitting large gatherings.

War, Conflict & CBRN

Armed conflict and terrorism produce humanitarian disasters — displacement, casualties, destroyed infrastructure and the threat of weaponised CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) agents. While conventional warfare is outside the routine DM remit, NDMA's CBRN guidelines, the NDRF's specialised CBRN battalions, and international humanitarian law (Geneva Conventions) frame India's preparedness for terrorism-linked chemical, biological or radiological ("dirty bomb") events.

Current Affairs Snapshot (up to June 2026)

DM (Amendment) Act, 2025: Strengthens the institutional architecture for all disasters including man-made — statutory status to the NCMC, a national disaster database, and provision for Urban Disaster Management Authorities (UDMAs) relevant to industrial-cluster and crowd risks in cities.
Kavach roll-out accelerated: Post-Balasore, the Railways expanded deployment of the indigenous Kavach ATP system across high-density corridors to prevent train collisions.
Bhopal toxic-waste disposal (2024–25): Decades after 1984, hazardous waste from the defunct Union Carbide site was finally moved for incineration — reviving debate on legacy-site remediation and victim justice.
Crowd-safety focus: Recurring stampede tragedies at religious/festival gatherings prompted fresh emphasis on NDMA crowd-management guidelines and capacity-controlled permits.
Pandemic-preparedness reform: Continued discussion of a modern public-health law to replace the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act, plus strengthening of IDSP/NCDC and "One Health" surveillance after COVID-19.
Chemical-cluster audits: Renewed safety audits of Major Accident Hazard (MAH) units and off-site emergency plans following industrial accidents in chemical and pharma clusters.

Previous Year Questions — Prelims PRELIMS

How to use: Prelims rewards precise facts — which gas leaked where, which regulator, which Act, which nodal agency. Lock these down.

Representative (frame) Chemical disaster

Q. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984) was caused by the leak of which gas, and which legislation did it directly catalyse? (Framed as a representative Prelims item — no exact-year claim made; built from recurring NDMA/environment-law facts.)

Key Points to Remember

Leaked gas: Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) from the Union Carbide plant — world's worst industrial disaster.
Directly catalysed the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Chapter IVA of the Factories Act.
Later rules: MSIHC Rules 1989, Chemical Accidents (EPPR) Rules 1996, Public Liability Insurance Act 1991.
Vizag (2020) leaked styrene — a different, more recent industrial accident.

Representative (frame) Nuclear regulation

Q. Which body is the regulatory authority for nuclear and radiation safety in India, and which Act governs civil nuclear liability? (Representative framing of a recurring static-fact theme.)

Key Points to Remember

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), established 1983, is the safety regulator.
Civil liability is governed by the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (no-fault, operator-channelled).
The Atomic Energy Act, 1962 is the parent legislation; the AEC oversees policy.
International reference accidents: Fukushima 2011 and Chernobyl 1986.

Representative (frame) Oil-spill response

Q. Which is the nodal agency for oil-spill response in India's maritime zones, and under which plan? (Representative item on the NOSDCP, a frequently-tested static fact.)

Key Points to Remember

Nodal agency: the Indian Coast Guard, under the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP).
India is party to MARPOL and the OPRC Convention on oil-pollution preparedness.
Recent case: the Ennore/Chennai oil spill (2017).
Distinguish biological (NCDC), chemical (MoEFCC/EPPR Crisis Groups) and nuclear (AERB/DAE) nodal set-ups.

Previous Year Questions — Mains with Model Answer Structures MAINS

How to use: Each model answer is a structured outline. Flesh out each point into 2–3 sentences in the exam. PYQs are covered up to UPSC Mains 2025.

UPSC GS3 2018 15 marks · 250 words

Q. "Describe various measures taken in India for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) before and after signing the 'Sendai Framework for DRR (2015–2030)'. How is this framework different from the 'Hyogo Framework for Action, 2005'?"

Model Answer Structure

Intro: DRR covers natural and man-made hazards; India's pre-Sendai measures rooted in DM Act 2005 (post-Bhopal/post-tsunami learning).
Pre-Sendai: DM Act 2005, NDMA-SDMA-DDMA tiers, NDRF, hazard-specific NDMA guidelines (chemical 2007, biological 2008, nuclear/radiological 2009).
Post-Sendai: NDMP 2016/2019 aligned to Sendai's four priorities; mitigation funds (15th FC); CDRI; Kavach & safety-code reform.
Sendai vs Hyogo: Sendai is broader (man-made & biological hazards), targets-based (7 global targets), shifts from disaster management to disaster risk management, "build back better."
Man-made angle: Sendai explicitly covers technological/industrial hazards — relevant to Bhopal-type and CBRN risks.
Conclusion: India increasingly treats DRR (including man-made) as integral to resilient development.

UPSC GS3 2020 10 marks · 150 words

Q. "Discuss the recent measures initiated in disaster management by the Government of India departing from the earlier reactive approach." (Apply with a man-made / industrial & pandemic lens.)

Model Answer Structure

Intro: Note the shift from reactive relief to proactive prevention — especially relevant for preventable man-made disasters.
Industrial: MSIHC Rules, EPPR Crisis Groups, MAH audits, off-site emergency plans, NDMA chemical guidelines.
Biological: COVID-19 governance — DM Act invoked, CoWIN, vaccine scale-up, IDSP/NCDC strengthening, "One Health."
Transport & structural: Kavach ATP roll-out post-Balasore; bridge/building safety audits post-Morbi.
Institutional-financial: DM (Amendment) Act 2025, mitigation funds, UDMAs for urban/industrial risk.
Conclusion: India is institutionalising prevention, accountability and resilience across man-made hazards.

UPSC GS3 2023 15 marks · 250 words

Q. "Discuss the consequences of climate change on the food security in tropical countries." — Examiners increasingly link cross-cutting crises; here, frame the governance and preparedness lessons a major industrial/biological disaster offers for resilient systems. (Adapted application.)

Model Answer Structure

Intro: Man-made and natural shocks compound; resilient systems need prevention, surveillance and accountability.
Industrial lesson (Bhopal/Vizag): Strict siting, storage limits, functional safety systems, off-site planning and no-fault liability.
Biological lesson (COVID/Nipah): Early surveillance, surge capacity, supply-chain & data systems, legal clarity.
Transport/structural lesson: Code enforcement, technology (Kavach), audits and operator accountability.
Cross-cutting: CBRN/NDRF specialised capacity, community awareness, "left of the bang" investment.
Conclusion: Preventability is the defining feature of man-made disasters — governance is the decisive variable.

Representative (frame) 10 marks · 150 words

Q. "Stampedes and fires at mass gatherings are entirely preventable disasters. Critically examine the causes and suggest a crowd-safety governance framework." (Representative Mains-style question; framed, not a verified PYQ year.)

Model Answer Structure

Intro: Define crowd disasters as preventable, governance-failure events.
Causes: Over-capacity, poor exit/flow design, rumour/panic, weak permitting, lax fire codes.
Framework — pre: NDMA crowd-management guidelines, capacity audits, DDMA permits, signage, CCTV.
Framework — during: Incident command, marshals, medical posts, real-time monitoring.
Fire safety: Enforce National Building Code provisions, mock drills, alarms, exits.
Conclusion: Enforcement and accountability convert avoidable tragedies into safe gatherings.

⚡ Quick Revision

Bhopal 1984: MIC gas, Union Carbide — worst ever
Vizag 2020: Styrene leak (LG Polymers)
Nuclear: Fukushima 2011, Chernobyl 1986
COVID-19: DM Act invoked + Epidemic Act 1897
Oil spill nodal: Coast Guard via NOSDCP
Rail: Balasore 2023; ATP = Kavach

📌 Must-Know Facts

MSIHC Rules: 1989
Chemical Accidents (EPPR) Rules: 1996
AERB: 1983 (nuclear regulator)
Civil Nuclear Liability Act: 2010
Epidemic Diseases Act: 1897
Morbi bridge collapse: Oct 2022
Balasore crash: June 2023 (~290 deaths)

🏛️ Nodal Agencies

Chemical: MoEFCC + EPPR Crisis Groups
Nuclear/Radiological: AERB / DAE
Biological: NCDC / IDSP, MoHFW
Oil spill: Indian Coast Guard (NOSDCP)
CBRN response: NDRF battalions

✍️ Answer Keywords

Preventable / governance failure
MAH units & off-site emergency plan
No-fault liability
CBRN preparedness
"One Health" surveillance
Accountability & code enforcement