Jigani company had dumped chemical waste

The chemical waste from Jigani-based pharmaceutical company, Karnataka Chemsyn, had been dumped behind the railway yard in Srirampuram. Action will be initiated against the company and the chemical waste will be sent back, a top KSPCB official said.

"The company had given a contract to dispose the waste to some other organisation. The outsourced company had dumped the material in a place where generally Railways dump their waste," he explained.

According to the laboratory report, the chemical waste was 'Bromine' and it was a harmful substance. "The workers had dumped the waste when they developed skin irritation," added the official.

The official said that the waste will be sent back to the factory. "It is their responsibility. They must take it back and dispose it scientifically by making it inactive. It is now active, therefore the problem is severe," he explained.
He said that the inactive and detoxified chemical will be sent to the Dobbaspet hazardous waste disposal unit for the landfill.

When his attention was drawn to the refusal of Ramky's (the company operating DHWPU) to accept the waste, the official said, "They do not have an incinerator. But they have a landfill facility," he said.

Earlier, another official from the KSPCB said that the Hoskote-based private incinerator too had refused to accept the waste saying the material was highly inflammable.

What is Bromine (Br):
A dark red heavy liquid, it has an irritating smell. When exposed to sun, it turns into reddish brown vapours. Fairly soluble in water, the dissolved solution obtained is known as bromine water. The solution dissolves in organic solvents like carbon tetra chloride and other substance and is corrosive and poisonous and affects the lungs severely when inhaled.

The chemical, if dissolved in water, reacts with water to form Hydrobromic acid (HBr), a harmful component and Hypobromous acid (HOBr).
The chemical is used for bleaching action and to remove lead contents from petroleum.