Bhopal:
Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, around 377 tonnes of toxic waste was taken away from the Union Carbide factory for disposal on Wednesday night. The toxic waste is being transported in 12 sealed container trucks to the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, 250 km from Bhopal.
Between December 2 and 3, 1984, highly poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 people and maiming thousands. It is considered one of the world’s biggest industrial disasters.
Director of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Swatantra Kumar Singh said, “12 container trucks carrying garbage set out on the journey without stopping at around 9 pm. A green corridor has been created for vehicles, which are expected to reach Pithampur Industrial Area in Dhar district in seven hours.
He said about 100 people worked in 30-minute shifts to pack the waste and load it into trucks. These people were engaged in this work since Sunday. “His health was checked and he was given rest every 30 minutes,” he said.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had recently expressed displeasure with the authorities in the capital Bhopal for not evacuating Union Carbide and said that this indifference could lead to another tragedy. “If everything is found fine, the waste will be burnt within three months,” Singh told PTI on Wednesday. Otherwise it may take up to nine months.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had on December 3 set a deadline of four weeks to shift the toxic waste and warned the government of contempt proceedings if its direction was not followed.
A division bench of Chief Justice SK Kait and Justice Vivek Jain had said, ‘We fail to understand that despite various directions being issued from time to time by the Supreme Court and this Court as per the scheme of 23.03.2024, till date the toxic waste And no action has been taken to remove the content.
Singh said that initially some waste will be burnt at the waste disposal unit in Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be tested to find out whether any harmful substance is left in it or not.
He said that once it is confirmed that there are no traces of toxic elements left, the ash will be covered with a two-layer membrane and buried to ensure that it does not leach into the soil and water in any way. Do not come in contact with water.
Some local activists have claimed that in 2015, 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste was burnt on a trial basis in Pithampur, polluting the soil, groundwater and water sources of nearby villages. A large number of people took out a protest march on Sunday against the disposal of Union Carbide waste in Pithampur, a city with a population of about 1.75 lakh.
Madhya Pradesh High Court, expressing displeasure over the non-disposal of toxic waste of ‘Union Carbide’ factory even after 40 years of Bhopal gas tragedy, had on December 3 directed the state government to send this waste to the designated waste disposal unit within four weeks. Go.
There was leakage of poisonous gas ‘methyl isocyanate’ in Bhopal during the night of 2nd and 3rd December 1984. The incident, considered one of the world’s worst industrial tragedies, killed 5,479 people and left more than half a million people suffering from health problems and long-term disabilities.
