MP Govt Secretly Moving Toxic Bhopal Waste: Is Indore in Danger?

MP govt is secretly moving highly toxic waste from Bhopal. It could spell death & doom for 32 lakh living in Indore.

Dust laden chemical bottles abandoned at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. 10 metric tonnes of toxic waste was secretly being transported out of Bhopal on Thursday for disposal. (Photo: Reuters)

Illegal Disposal of Union Carbide Industrial Waste Will Doom Indore

• 30 years ago, the Union Carbide gas leak killed and affected over 15,000 people.
• 16 independent bodies have over the last 3 decades stated that leakages form the plant have affected the soil, water and even the breast milk of nursing mothers.
• The industrial waste from Union Carbide, Bhopal is being secretly disposed in Pitampur in the Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh to avoid local opposition.
• The waste management facility is located on the dam that provides water to the entire city of Indore and activists claim the entire population of Indore is at risk.
• The world’s deadliest waste requires sophisticated techniques of waste disposal that are not available in any of the 22 facilities in India.

Is Indore Facing A Toxic Disaster?

A victim of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. (Photo: Reuters) 

The Madhya Pradesh government may be endangering the lives of 32 lakh people living in Indore. 10 metric tonnes of highly toxic Chlorinated Carbon is to be disposed off at a private incineration facility in the industrial town of Pitampur in MP’s Dhar district.

The problem – this incineration facility is in the catchment area of Yashwant Sagar Dam that supplies Indore all of its water. It is feared the facility is not equipped to dispose the toxic waste efficiently, which might lead to the poisoning of the waters of Yashwant Sagar.

In a secret operation, midst tight security, 10 metric tonnes of highly toxic Chlorinated Carbon was transported in four truckloads from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal to run by Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, the Hindustan Times Bhopal Bureau has reported.

This was done following a 2012 Supreme Court order directing the MP government to carry out a toxic waste disposal trial at the facility.

Government is doing this in complete secrecy to avoid fresh opposition from local people and environmentalists in Pitampur.

– Rahul Noronha, Journalist, Hindustan Times, Bhopal

But activists aware of the dangers of Chlorinated Carbon have told The Quint that this could well lead to another Bhopal.

The potential victims are completely unaware that the most toxic chemicals known to mankind are being disposed off in Pitampur.
— Satinath Sarangi, Bhopal Group for Information and Action

Sarangi claims no facility in India can deal with Chlorinated Carbon, which needs a ‘closed loop system’ or ‘plasma technology’ to effectively dispose of it.

MP Environment Minister, Jayant Mallayya has stated in the govt GoM that this waste management facility is in the catchment of Yashwant Sagar which provides water to all of Indore. Of 22 waste management facilities in India, Pitampur is least equipped for this.
— Satinath Sarangi, Bhopal Group for Information and Action

But Nobody Wants Bhopal’s Toxic Waste

Generations were born with diseases and disorders following the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. This girl was born with hearing and speech disorders. (Photo: Reuters)

In 2004, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered the removal of the 350 tonnes of highly toxic Chlorinated Carbon lying at the Union Carbide, Bhopal premises, to be disposed off at Gujarat’s Ankleshwar incinerator. But the Gujarat government petitioned the Supreme Court against it.

In 2011, the MP High Court ordered disposal at a DRDO facility near Nagpur, again opposed by the Maharashtra government.

In 2012, a German Agency for International Cooperation, (GIZ) that specializes in handling industrial waste, also withdrew its offer to dispose off the toxic waste.

In August 2012, the Supreme Court directed the central government and the MP government to take immediate steps to dispose waste in 6 months.

So, 30 Years Later, A ‘Hush-Hush’ Clean Up

The abandoned former Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. (Photo: Reuters)

Dow Chemicals owns Union Carbide. Neither ever took the responsibility of dealing with the 350 metric tonnes of Chlorinated Carbon lying on their premises. Chairman and CEO, Warren Anderson was allowed to evade arrest. He died in the US in 2014.

In the years after 1984, the International Campaign For Justice in Bhopal has reported the presence of highly toxic chemicals in water, soil and even breast milk. The Municipal Corporation in 1996 declared the water from 100 tube wells unfit for drinking.

Mercury concentrations were 20,000 to six million times higher than expected. 16 different independent agencies have over the last 3 decades corroborated each other’s claims on the toxicity of the water, soil, air and waste in and around the vicinity of the Union Carbide factory.

The Worst Industrial Disaster in History

A panel displays pictures of residents who died in the 1984 Bhopal disaster at the forensic department of a hospital in Bhopal. (Photo: Reuters)

It has been 30 years since the worst industrial disasters in history. On 2 December, 1984, a toxic cloud of gas released from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal killed thousands instantly and affected generations after that. While official figures estimated 3,787 deaths, civil society groups claim the figure is over 15,000.

Further industrial waste from the factory has caused generational birth defects, infertility, cancer, learning disabilities and chronic diseases.

The new plan to shift this waste, with no clarity on disposal, could endanger a whole new area and community.

History may repeat itself, 220 km from Bhopal. Is Indore reading this?