Bhopal tragedy waste disposal: Mob pelts stones at incineration unit

A mob on Saturday pelted stones at the firm in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district where 337 tonnes of Union Carbide waste linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy is proposed to be incinerated, a police official said.

A mob of 100-150 persons pelted stones at the gate of the unit, Pithampur police station inspector Om Prakash Ahir told PTI. A probe is underway to identify those behind the incident and take further legal action, Ahir added. 

  The incident comes a day after the town was rocked by protests against the disposal plan amid a bandh call given by the Pithampur Bachao Samiti.  On Friday, a mob of 500-600 persons had marched to Ramky Group's Industrial Waste Management Private Limited premises, where the waste is set to be incinerated, but police managed to disperse them in time. Hours later, the district administration had clamped prohibitory orders under section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Surakhsa Sanhita (BNSS) around the premises of the unit.

It will be in force till January 12 and has been invoked to avoid loss of life and property, display of arms, celebratory firing and maintaining peace around the incineration facility, the order issued by district authorities on Friday evening read.  On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 persons and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues in Bhopal. The authorities shifted 337 tonnes of waste from the Carbide factory to Pithampur for scientific disposal. The material reached the incineration unit in Pithampur on Thursday. Pithampur, about 50 kilometres from the Dhar district headquarters, has a population of about 1.75 lakh and its industrial area here has nearly 700 factories in three sectors.