Second trial burning of Union Carbide waste underway in MP’s Pithampur; to continue for 55 hrs

Indore: The second round of trial incineration of the waste brought from Bhopal-based defunct Union Carbide factory is underway in the Pithampur industrial town in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, officials said on Thursday.

In the second phase of the trial, 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste is expected to be burnt in 55 hours in the industrial town, about 250 km from the state capital, they said.

All emission levels are within permissible limits amid the ongoing trial burning of the waste, said an official from the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board.

“The second phase of trial incineration to burn 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste is underway at the Pithampur waste disposal plant. During this process, 180 kg of waste is being fed into the incinerator every hour,” Srinivas Dwivedi, regional officer of the state pollution control board, told PTI.

He said the incineration began at 11.06 AM on Thursday following 12 hours of preheating to reach the required temperature to destroy the waste.

Emission levels from the plant as well as ambient air quality in surrounding areas are being monitored, he said.

The pollution control board’s scientist Sanjay Kumar Jain said, “All emission levels have remained within the prescribed limits during the second phase round of test burning.”

The state government on January 2 transported 337 tonnes of waste from the Union Carbide factory, the site of the 1984 industrial catastrophe, to a privately operated waste disposal facility at Pithampur.

According to an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the trial of disposal of this waste is to be done in three rounds while strictly following safety norms and a report is to be presented before the HC on March 27.

Officials said the first round of trial incineration, which began on February 28 and concluded on March 3, lasted about 75 hours, with 135 kg of waste being fed into the incinerator per hour.

During the first phase, emissions of particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, and total organic carbon were found to be within the permissible limits.

According to the state government, the waste from the Union Carbide factory consists of contaminated soil from the plant premises, reactor residues, pesticide (Sevin) residues, naphthol residues, and semi-processed waste.

The state pollution control board has cited scientific evidence to assert that the impact of Sevin and naphthol in the waste is now “almost negligible”.

According to the board, there is currently no trace of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas in the waste and it does not contain any radioactive particles.

On the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide's insecticide factory. At least 5,479 people were killed and thousands others suffered physical disabilities in the world's worst industrial disaster.

Since the transportation of this waste to Pithampur, the region has witnessed multiple protests. Demonstrators have expressed concerns about potential harm to human health.

The state government has sought to allay their fears by asserting that adequate arrangements have been made for the safe disposal of the industrial waste in Pithampur.