Union Carbide Waste Disposal is Work in Progress, says Javadekar

Speaking to the media in Indore, Prakash Javadekar said Union Carbide waste disposal plan is work in progress.

Toxic industrial waste continues to contaminate soil and water around the defunct Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. (Photo: Reuters)

A plan is being charted out for the safe disposal of toxic waste lying at the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. The gas leakage from this plant killed more than 25,000 people in December 1984, making it the worst industrial disaster in the history of the world.

Speaking to the media in Indore, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today said that toxic waste disposal is work in progress.

We are working on a plan for safe disposal of the waste from the Union Carbide factory. All precautionary measures will be taken into account to dispose of the toxic waste. All steps will be taken to resolve this problem.

Prakash Javadekar, Environment Minister

Even after three decades of the world’s worst industrial disaster in Bhopal, the toxic waste weighing several tonnes and lying dumped in the Union Carbide factory there, has not been disposed of.

There was a plan to incinerate the dump in Dhar district’s Pithampur area, but it could not happen due to protests from NGOs which fear that the disposal will cause air pollution and adversely affect the huge human settlements around the area.

Meanwhile, Javadekar said that efforts are on to check the growing pollution in the country, and to improve the quality of fuel and vehicles so as to make them environment- friendly.

Rules are also being made to check the dust pollution caused due to building construction work, he said, adding that they might be put in place next month.

Speaking to The Quint, earlier this month, Satinath Sarangi from the Bhopal Group of Information and Action says that contamination in the area continues to rise due to the toxic waste from the defunct Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide factory. This, he says, continues to be a serious threat to life.

Also Read: MP Government secretly moving toxic waste: Is Indore in Danger?

(With inputs from PTI)