- Saturday, January 04, 2025
The Madhya Pradesh high court had on December 3 set a four-week deadline to shift the toxic waste, and pulled up officials for letting it remain at the gas leak site for 40 years
By: India Weekly
AROUND 377 tons of hazardous waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has been sealed and loaded on trucks, ready to be carried off to a disposal site about 250 km away, an official said on Wednesday.
The site chosen for this purpose is the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, 30 km from Indore.
As many as 12 container trucks carrying the waste will set off for the journey by Wednesday midnight, sources said. A green corridor will be created along the route for a smooth journey.
“We are done. A hundred people in 30-minute shifts have packed the waste since Sunday. They underwent health check-ups and were given rest every 30 minutes,” said Swatantra Kumar Singh, director of the state’s Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had recently rebuked the authorities for not clearing the Union Carbide site in Madhya Pradesh’s capital despite directions from even the Supreme Court, saying this apathy could lead to another tragedy.
Toxic waste
Highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, killing at least 5,479 people and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues. It is considered to be among the worst industrial disasters in the world.
“If everything is found to be fine, the waste will be incinerated within three months. Otherwise it might take up to nine months,” Singh told PTI on Wednesday morning.
The MP High Court had on December 3 set a four-week deadline to shift the toxic waste, observing that even 40 years after the gas tragedy, the authorities were in a “state of inertia”, and warned the government of contempt proceedings if its directive was not followed.
“We fail to understand that in spite of issuance of various directions from time to time by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as well as by this Court, pursuant to the plan dated 23.03.2024, till date no steps seem to have been taken to remove to the toxic waste and material,” a division bench of Chief Justice SK Kait and Justice Vivek Jain had said.
Disposal process
Initially some of the waste will be burnt at the waste disposal unit of Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be examined to find whether any harmful element are left in it, Singh said.
The smoke from the incinerator will pass through special four-layer filters so that the surrounding air is not polluted, he added.
Once it is confirmed that no traces of toxic elements are left, the ash will be covered by a two-layer membrane and buried to ensure it does not come in contact with soil and water in any way.
A team of experts under the supervision of officials of the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board will carry out the process, Singh said.
Locals protest
Some local activists have claimed that 10 tons of Union Carbide waste was incinerated on a trial basis in Pithampur in 2015, after which the soil, underground water and water sources in surrounding villages became polluted.
But Singh rejected the claim, stating that the decision to dispose of the waste at Pithampur was taken only after the report of the 2015 test and all the objections were examined.
There would be no reason to worry, he said.
A large number of people had on Sunday taken out a protest march in Pithampur to oppose the disposal of Union Carbide waste in the city which has a population of about 175,000. (PTI)
