40 years on, Union Carbide toxic waste set to travel 250 km for disposal

Bhopal/ Indore: The work to remove 377 metric tonnes of hazardous waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal got underway on Sunday ahead of its planned disposal near Indore.

The development comes weeks after the Madhya Pradesh High Court chided the authorities for not taking action despite repeated directions, including that of the Supreme Court, to clear the site in the MP capital. The “state of inertia” may cause “another tragedy”, it had said.

On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide pesticides factory killing 5,479 people and leaving more than five lakh others with health effects and long-term disabilities.

About half a dozen GPS-enabled trucks with specially reinforced containers reached the factory site on Sunday morning. Several workers wearing special PPE kits and officials of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, environmental agencies, doctors and incineration experts were seen working at the site.

Policemen were also deployed around the factory.

As per the plan, the toxic waste will be moved to an incineration site in Pithampur near Indore, around 250 km from Bhopal, official sources said.

The MP High Court on December 3 had set a four-week deadline to shift the toxic waste from the factory, observing that even 40 years after the gas disaster, the authorities were in a “state of inertia” that may cause “another tragedy”.

Describing it as a “sorry state of affairs”, the HC had 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.

The HC will hear the matter on January 6.

“The waste of Bhopal gas tragedy is a stigma which is going to disappear after 40 years. We will dispose of it by sending it safely to Pithampur,” Swatantra Kumar Singh, director of the state's Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department told PTI.

He said a “green corridor” of about 250 km will be created by managing traffic to transport the waste from Bhopal to Pithampur in the shortest possible time.

Singh refused to give a specific date for the transportation of the waste and its subsequent disposal at Pithampur, but sources said that in view of the HC direction, this process can start soon and the waste might reach its destination by January 3.

The official said that initially some part of the waste will be burnt at the waste disposal unit of Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be scientifically examined to find out whether any harmful element is left in it.

Singh said, “If everything is found to be fine, then the waste will be burnt to ashes within three months. Otherwise, the speed of burning will be slowed down and it might take up to nine months.”

He said that the smoke emitted from the incinerator will be passed through four-layer special filters so that the surrounding air is not polluted and a record of this process would be kept every moment.

Once the waste is incinerated and freed from harmful elements, the ash will be covered with a two-layer strong “membrane” and buried at the “landfill” to ensure that it does not come in contact with soil and water in any way.

He said that the waste would be destroyed by a team of experts under the supervision of the officials from the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board and a detailed report would be submitted to the High Court.

A group of locals and activists claim that after 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste was destroyed on a trial basis in Pithampur in 2015, the soil, underground water and water sources of the surrounding villages have become polluted.

However, Singh rejected the claim.

“It has been decided to destroy 337 metric tonnes of Union Carbide waste in Pithampur's waste disposal unit only after examining the report of this test of 2015 and all the objections,” he said.

“This unit has all the arrangements to dispose of the waste safely and there is nothing to worry about,” he added.

Amid reports of this waste reaching Pithampur, which has a population of about 1.75 lakh, a large number of people on Sunday took out a protest rally wearing black bands on their hands.

Led by a group named ‘Pithampur Kshetra Raksha Manch’, they held placards with slogans like “We will not let Pithampur become Bhopal” and “Save Pithampur, remove toxic waste”.

Protester Rajesh Chaudhary said, “We want the air quality of Pithampur to be re-examined by scientists before the Union Carbide factory waste is destroyed. We will also try our best to present our case in the court.”

Pithampur, an industrial town about 30 km from Indore and 45 km from the district headquarters Dhar, has about 1,250 small and big units.

Goutam Kothari, president of Pithampur Industrial Organisation, said, “We are satisfied with the arrangements made for burning down the Union Carbide waste at the industrial waste disposal unit of Pithampur.

The disposal of this waste should not be made a bogey on the basis of baseless apprehensions and the local people should not be scared.”

However, he said that if any accident occurs in Pithampur during the destruction of this waste, then his organisation will launch a protest.