The Bhopal gas tragedy had occurred on the night of December 2 and 3, 1984, following a leak of the poisonous gas– methyl isocyanate, from the Union Carbide plant. Although government data recorded 3,000 casualties in the leak, activists claimed around 8,000 to 10,000 deaths. The leak caused 5.5 lakh injuries, which included blindness and birth defects in future generations.