The Expertise and the Practice of Loss Prevention in the Indian Process Industry

In this paper we present an analysis of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and the loss prevention initiatives it had prompted. We then recount the Vishakhapatnam disaster of 1997 which reveals that most of the lessons of Bhopal seemed to have been forgotten. We also present an overview of the considerable expertise in loss prevention available in India and how this expertise is underutilized. Finally we emphasize the fact that the cultural, socio-political, demographic, and infrastructural factors prevailing in India (and indeed most of the third world) being markedly different from the ones in the developed world, further R&D on loss prevention in India should be specifically oriented towards the Indian situation. Such an R&D ought to provide continuous feedback to the government for refining the concerned legislation.