Torch rally held in MP town to protest proposed disposal of Union Carbide waste

Dhar (MP): Various social outfits organised a torch rally on Sunday in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district to oppose the planned disposal of Union Carbide waste, connected to the Bhopal gas tragedy, in the industrial town of Pithampur.

The protesters demonstrated in Sagore town, adjoining Pithampur, where the 337 metric tonnes of waste has been brought for incineration, said Dhirendra Thakur, one of the rally organisers.

He said people are expressing their objection to the proposed waste disposal, through meetings and postcards sent to the authorities.

Thakur said, “We fear diseases might spread in the future. There are inadequate medical facilities in Pithampur.” Several women also joined the torch rally, where tractors were also used.

On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 persons and leaving thousands with serious health problems and long-term disabilities.

Protests have been held in Pithampur, a prominent industrial belt some 50 kilometres from the Dhar district headquarters, ever since 337 tonnes of waste from the defunct Union Carbide company arrived for disposal at a unit here.

Over the past several days, the Dhar administration has been carrying out an awareness drive to tell people that the waste poses no harm to humans or the environment.

According to the state government, the waste comprises soil, reactor residues, Sevin (pesticide) residues, naphthol residues and semi-processed residues. The MP Pollution Control Board has said “scientific evidence suggests the chemical effects of Sevin and naphthol in the waste have now become nought”.