All photos © Alex Masi

Salman, 13, a child with a serious psychological disorder and blindness, in his home in the impoverished Arif Nagar Colony in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, near the former Union Carbide industrial complex. Twenty-five years after the Union Carbide industrial disaster—in which half a million people were exposed to toxic gas—many families in Bhopal are still suffering. Industrial waste buried throughout the city penetrates the underground water reservoirs.

On Monday eight former Union Carbide executives were convicted of negligence. Each was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 100,000 rupees ($2,100).

Alex Masi’s series is included in the PDN Photo Annual 2010 online gallery.

A lone girl is refreshing under the late monsoon rain in the impoverished Oriya Basti Colony in Bhopal. The rain will reach the chemical waste buried under the ground and then poison the drinking water for the over 30.000 urban slum dwellers living nearby.

A young child is crying for attention inside a makeshift house in Oriya Basti Colony.

Zubin, 3, was born healthy but developed serious physical and neurological deficiencies in her early childhood, a symptom connected to the long-term consumption of contaminated water.

The Union Carbide Control Room in Bhopal.

Children sitting around a Ganesha shrine during the Gampati Festival near the former Union Carbide industrial complex.

Tags: Bhopal, PDN Contest, PDN Photo Annual, Union Carbide Disaster

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 12:00 pm ET by Danny Tsui and is filed under Documentary, News, Photojournalism, Portraiture.