Reconsider plan to dispose Union Carbide waste in Pithampur, says Indore mayor

Indore: Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava on Tuesday demanded to reconsider the plan to shift 337 tonnes of toxic waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal for dumping it in Pithampur in Dhar district.

Bhargava's demand comes as work to remove the hazardous waste from the factory began on Sunday, weeks after the Madhya Pradesh High Court pulled up authorities for not taking action despite repeated directions to clear the site in Bhopal.

The toxic waste will be moved to an incineration site in Pithampur near Indore, around 250 km from Bhopal.

On Sunday morning, half a dozen GPS-enabled trucks with specially reinforced containers reached the factory site as part of the waste disposal process.

Pithampur is the main industrial area in MP with 1.75 lakh population, located 30 km from Indore.

"Not destroying this waste in Pithampur will be in the interest of not only this industrial town but also of Indore and the entire state. Therefore, the plan to destroy this waste in Pithampur should be reconsidered, " Bhargava told reporters.

On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide factory killing 5,479 people and maiming more than five lakh others.

A section of people and environmental activists claim that the soil, groundwater, and water sources of villages in Pithampur became polluted after 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste was disposed of on a trial basis at the Pithampur waste disposal unit in 2015.

"Since the matter is heard by the high court, I will request the MP chief secretary and the principal secretary of the gas relief and rehabilitation department to hear the people of Pithampur and file a review petition," said Bhargava, who had served as the additional advocate general of the HC.

He said the high court should be requested to decide on the disposal based on the study of the environmental impact of waste in Pithampur nine years ago.

A day earlier, a group of doctors filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the Indore bench of the High Court seeking a pause on the toxic waste disposal plan contending that it was detrimental to the health of the people and environment.

The high court on December 3 set a four-week deadline to shift the toxic waste from the factory, observing that even 40 years after the gas disaster, authorities are in a "state of inertia" that may cause "another tragedy".

Describing it as a "sorry state of affairs", the high court had asked the government to remove and transport the hazardous waste from the site within four weeks, failing which it will have to face contempt proceedings.