Bhopal gas tragedy survivors along with locals at Pithampur Industrial Area have opposed the government’s plan to dispose of the overground Union Carbide waste at Pithampur incinerator saying it will further pollute the industrial area.
It is the fifth attempt to dispose the waste at Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, where a gas leak in 1984 led to the deaths of over 20,000 people and left thousands diseased.
On the directions of Madhya Pradesh high court, the state government and environment ministry has again initiated the process to dispose of the waste at the facility run by Re-Sustainability Limited in Pithampur.
Lending support to the protests by Pithampur Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh president Rashida Bee said, “The technical presentation of the Ministry of Environment & Forests on incineration of Union Carbide’s hazardous waste, 900 tonnes of residue will be generated after incineration of 337 MT. It is important to keep in mind that these 900 tonnes will have a very high concentration of poisonous heavy metals. The so-called secure landfills at Pithampur have been leaking poisonous leachate for some years now. The officials have no way to ensure that the toxic elements from 900 tonnes of residue will not contaminate the sources of water in and around Pithampur.”
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Suspecting that disposal could lead to a public health disaster, Bhopal Group for Information & Action member Rachna Dhingra said, “The incineration of hazardous waste from Bhopal is to be carried out for up to three and half months. The population likely to be exposed to airborne poisons and particulate matter from the incinerator for such a long period is well over a hundred thousand. It is nothing short of deliberately creating a public health disaster”, Dhingra said.
A local from Pithmapur, Sandeep Raghuvanshi, said the state government tried to dispose the toxic waste in Germany and other states of India but the plan was dropped due to opposition of locals.
“Now, the state government has decided to put the lives of residents of Pithampur in danger,” he alleged.
Nawab Khan, a Bhopal gas tragedy survivor said that BJP leader Jayant Mallaiya as the environment minister and Babulal Gaur as the minister for Gas Relief and rehabilitation department had opposed plans of incinerating the Bhopal waste at Pithampur at several meetings.
“The Commissioner Gas Relief had in fact filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against incineration at Pithampur. We are bringing these facts out in the open now so that the officials currently in the process of turning Pithampur into a slow-motion Bhopal cannot say later that they did not know,” he said.
However, the state government officials said the disposal will be done following all the international and national safety norms according to the direction of MP High Court, Jabalpur.
On December 3, a division bench of Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and judge Vivek Jain sought a report from the state government within four weeks on steps taken for removal of toxic waste still dumped even after 40 years of Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
The High Court’s directions are based on the claim of the government of successful trial of disposal of the waste without any risk to public health or the environment.
In 2014, the Supreme Court ordered to incinerate the waste lying at UCIL site and evaluate its environmental impact. Under this direction, trial runs were carried out for disposal of 10 metric tonnes of UCIL waste at the Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) of Pithampur Industrial Waste Management Private Limited (PIWMPL) in August 2015.
“In a report presented to the court, it was said that tests were conducted under the supervision of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), MPPCB, and Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP). The results of the tests confirmed that all parameters of the incinerator complied with the prescribed norms and there is no hazardous for life of people,” said a senior officer of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation department.
Department director Swatantra Kumar Singh said, “The process began according to the norms. We are following very high standard national international norms for disposing the waste. We will give the status report to the high court on January 6.”
On the intervening nights of December 2-3, 1984, the highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant, engulfing large swathes of residential pockets, killing over 22,000 people and maiming over half a million others, who suffer congenital disorders.