Madhya Pradesh govt prepares for trial burning of Carbide waste as Supreme Court refuses to interfere with HC order

Dhar/Indore: Preparations have begun to incinerate 10 tonnes of the 337 tonnes of Union Carbide waste on a trial basis in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the matter, officials said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the apex court declined to interfere with the Madhya Pradesh High Court order on shifting the waste linked with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and disposing it of at Pithampur in Dhar district.

The apex court has asked aggrieved parties, including members of civil society organisations opposing waste disposal, to approach the high court, which is hearing the matter.

Following the SC’s order, the administration has stepped up security in the industrial town of Pithampur, an official said.

Nearly 500 cops from 24 police stations have been deployed in the area. Senior officials have also reached the spot, he said.

Those opposing the disposal of the waste said that they would knock on the doors of the HC. They said the SC listened to them and told them to present their case in the high court.

“Our lawyers have said they would present our case strongly in the HC. The movement will continue. We will talk to the people of Pithampur through our lawyers and take the movement forward in the way they tell us to do it,” said Sandeep Raghuvanshi, one of the protesters.

After the SC’s stand in the matter, Indore Division Commissioner Deepak Singh said, “Preparations have begun for the first trial of burning the waste of Union Carbide factory in Pithampur’s waste disposal unit.” As per the HC order, 10 tonnes of the waste will be burnt in the first phase of this test, he told PTI.

On the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, highly poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. At least 5,479 people were killed and thousands were crippled. It is considered one of the world’s biggest industrial disasters.

Officials transported 337 tonnes of waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in the MP capital to a facility in Pithampur, about 250 km away, on January 2 as part of a plan to dispose of the material.

On January 6, the HC had directed the state government to take steps within six weeks to dispose of the waste by following safety guidelines.

Since this waste was brought to Pithampur, this industrial area has seen several protests. The protesters have expressed apprehensions about the harm to the human population and environment if the waste is incinerated there.

The state government says solid arrangements are in place in the Pithampur unit for the safe disposal of the Carbide waste.

The state government has also organised ‘Jan Samvad’ programmes in Pithampur and its surrounding places to spread awareness about the waste disposal process.

According to the state government, the waste includes soil from the now-shut Bhopal factory, reactor residue, Sevin (pesticide) residue, naphthal residue and “semi-processed” residue.

The State Pollution Control Board says that according to scientific evidence, the effect of Sevin and naphthal in this waste has now become “almost negligible”.

According to the pollution control board, there is no existence of methyl isocyanate gas or radioactive particles of any kind in this waste.