Industrial Disaster

• Accidents and disasters in industries often occur due to technical failures or irresponsible handling of hazardous materials.
• One of the most devastating industrial disasters in history occurred in Bhopal on December 3, 1984, around 00:30 a.m. This tragic incident was a result of a technological failure when highly poisonous Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas, along with Hydrogen Cyanide and other reaction products, leaked from the pesticide factory operated by Union Carbide.
• The official death toll in 1989 was reported at 3,598 lives lost.
• However, thousands of survivors still suffer from a range of ailments, including blindness, impaired immune systems, gastrointestinal disorders, and more.

NTPC 

NTPC(National Thermal Power Corporation) is a major power providing corporation in India. It has ISO certification for EMS (Environment Management System) 14001. The corporation has a proactive approach for preserving the natural environment and resources like water, oil and gas and fuels in places where it is setting up power plants. This has been possible through:

1. Optimum utilisation of equipment adopting latest techniques and upgrading existing equipment.
2. Minimising waste generation by maximising ash utilisation.
3. Providing green belts for nurturing ecological balance and addressing the question of special purpose vehicles for afforestation.
4. Reducing environmental pollution through ash pond management, ash water recycling system and liquid waste management.
5. Ecological monitoring, reviews and online database management for all its power stations.

Glossary

• Mechanisation: The mechanisation approach involves the utilisation of devices to perform tasks. Automation represents the evolved phase of mechanisation, where human cognitive input is not required in the manufacturing process.
• Agglomeration: Many industries benefit from nearness to a leader-industry and other industries. These benefits are termed as agglomeration economies. 
• Foot-loose Industries: These are not dependent on any specific raw material such as weight losing or otherwise, but mainly depend on component parts which can be obtained anywhere. They produce in small quantities and also employ a small labour force.
• Cottage Manufacturing: This represents the smallest-scale production unit, where artisans utilise local raw materials and basic tools to create everyday items within their homes, often with the assistance of family members or occasional part-time labour. 
• Synthetic Fibre: They are fibres made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibres that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) or fur from animals.
• Manufacturing Hubs: The manufacturing hubs idea reflects an emerging consensus among a large number of industry leaders, technology analysts, and economic development professionals that regions are the place to work on technology-based development and that regions need to be anchored by hubs of collaborative R&D where industry can work with academia and government to solve tough problems and foment technology gains. 
• White-collar Workers: A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional service, desk, managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an office or other administrative setting.
• Smelting: It is the process in which metals are extracted from their ores by heating beyond the melting point
• Technopolis: A technologically advanced city, or one heavily involved in mechanised manufacture of goods, especially of microelectronics.
• Environmental Degradation: Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil, and the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.