Key points
- Authorities asked to ensure dumping of 358m tonnes of waste
- Toxic waste was shifted to Pithampur
- Court directs Chief Minister Yadav to take action
ISLAMABAD: Demonstrations, protests, and attempted self-immolations the previous week in Pithampur, an Indian industrial town, in protest of the transfer of toxic waste from Bhopal 250 kilometers away. It has led an Indian high court to halt local authorities’ plans.
In Bhopal 40 years ago, a gas leak from the Union Carbide factory, killed over 5,400 people in the world’s largest industrial accident, reported Nikkei Asia.
Indian authorities, last month, asked for the removal of the residual toxic waste from Bhopal. It was to be stored in Pithampur at an incinerator facility.
On January 6, Madhya Pradesh HC granted six weeks to the government officials to act on Union Carbide waste disposal, 40 years after the killer gas leak at Union Carbide’s pesticide plant killed thousands in Bhopal.
Bhopal’s Union Carbide Factory
Toxic waste from Bhopal’s Union Carbide Factory was being taken away in containers to Pithampur where it was supposed to be discarded.
the court directed the removal of the toxic waste from the Bhopal factory.
For safe disposal, the court directed the waste to be transferred to the assigned place (Pithampur) within four weeks.
Massive protests erupted in Pithampur in reaction to the disposal of waste.
“The state government in its affidavit before the Court has stated about the huge public outcry based on certain fictitious media reports, which paint a picture that another industrial disaster would take place if the waste is unloaded and disposed off at the TSDF in Pithampur, leading to severe environmental implications,” the HC’s division bench comprising Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain stated in its order.
“It has been assured to the Court that the state will perform its duties and obligations. It has also been assured that it will take the people of Pithampur into confidence,” the court mentioned in its order.
State’s request
“The state has requested the court for permission to unload the material (waste) from trailers/trucks. On December 3, 2024, this court directed to take the waste material from Bhopal and dispose it off as per norms, thus no further order is required to be passed to unload the waste material (in the Pithampur TSDF),” the court also mentioned.
“Committed to compliance”
Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav said, “We are committed to the compliance of the court’s order, the HC has observed that one step of its order has been complied with duly by the government with transportation of the waste safely from Bhopal to Pithampur. It is scientifically the only place for safely disposing of such waste.”
“Our priority is now to address public concerns about further process (waste disposal), We’ve got six weeks from the Court. We’ll address public concerns and infuse public confidence about the safe and scientific disposal of the waste,” he mentioned.
