Madhya Pradesh readies plan to burn Union Carbide waste

Madhya Pradesh is readying a plan to dispose 350 tonnes of toxic waste in the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal that was closed on December 2, 1984, after poisonous gas leaked from it killing hundreds and leaving thousands permanently injured. The union environment ministry had in January submitted a report to the Supreme Court that MP Waste Management Project in Tarpura village near the industrial town of Pithampur was equipped to incinerate the waste.

A trial conducted over July-August 2015 found the facility safe.

"We are readying a plan for transporting and incinerating the waste," said Gauri Singh, principal secretary of the Bhopal gas and rehabilitation department.

"They incinerated 10 tonnes in six days. How many days will it need to burn 350 tonnes? What will happen to environment of nearby areas?" said Rachna Dhingra, an activist with the Bhopal Group for Action and Information, an NGO fighting for the survivors of India's worst industrial accident.

"Nowhere in India is incineration of toxic waste charged on a per hour basis. It will require more than Rs 100 crore to incinerate such a huge quantity. A German firm GIZ was ready to transport, handle and incinerate the waste for Rs 25 crore," she added.

NGOs are sticking to their demand that Dow Chemical should clean the premises after it acquired Union Carbide globally.

The incineration facility is 250 km from Bhopal and the waste will have to be moved in a convoy of trucks. The state government had earlier transported 40 tonnes of lime sludge to the incineration facility. "Our responsibility is to pack, load and transport the waste to the incineration facility at Pithampur," Gauri Singh said.

"A monitoring station of the Central Pollution Control Board will be set up at the incineration facility," he added.