HC allows govt to dispose of Union Carbide's waste after successful trials

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday allowed the state government to dispose of the chemical waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal at a Pithampur plant after it was told that a trial incineration did not cause any adverse consequences.

The four-decade-old hazardous waste shall be disposed of in a safe manner at the plant in Dhar district within 72 days, said a division bench of Chief Justice S K Kait and Justice Vivek Jain. The government had asked for 72 days to complete the process. Some local organisations in Pithampur were opposed to the disposal of the waste near the town, but the government, in its affidavit filed before the court on Thursday, said the three trials of disposal were successful and did not lead to any adverse impact. The court then directed the government to ensure that all safety measures were taken, and dispose of the waste.   The government was asked to file a report on June 30, said senior advocate Naman Nagrath, representing petitioner late Alok Pratap Singh. Singh had filed the writ petition in 2004 regarding the removal of the waste from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, the epicentre of the 1984 gas leak disaster. On February 18, the high court had allowed the state government to carry out a trial run at Pithampur in three phases.

A total of 337 tones of waste was on January 2 transported to the waste disposal plant operated by a private company in Pithampur, about 250 km from the state capital. On the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate gas leaked from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal.  At least 5,479 people were killed and thousands of others suffered disabilities and other health problems following the gas leak, considered to be one of the worst industrial disasters in the world. After the waste from the factory was transported to Pithampur, an industrial town, there were protests with local leaders apprehending that the disposal will affect people's health and the environment. Some activists approached the high court. But the state government assured that the process will be safe.