Bhopal, Jan 2 (NationPress) Hazardous waste that had remained on the premises of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal for four decades was successfully transported on Wednesday to the Pathampur disposal site located in Dhar district, roughly 30 km from Indore.
The fleet of 12 container trucks, which transported about 337 metric tonnes of chemical waste, traveled from Bhopal to Pithampur under strict security measures enforced by local authorities and police late on Wednesday.
An eco-friendly corridor was established to facilitate the movement over a distance of approximately 250 km linking UCIL and Pithampur.
The catastrophic leak of highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide pesticide plant occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, resulting in the deaths of at least 5,479 individuals and causing severe and enduring health complications for many more. This incident is regarded as one of the most devastating industrial disasters globally.
On December 3, the Madhya Pradesh High Court imposed a four-week deadline for the removal of the hazardous waste, stating that even after 40 years post the gas tragedy, the authorities were in a “state of inertia,” and warned of potential contempt proceedings against the government if its order was not adhered to.
Since Sunday, over one hundred personnel have been engaged in packing the waste, working in 30-minute intervals, with mandatory health check-ups and rest breaks every half hour.
All 12 specialized containers utilized for transporting the hazardous waste were constructed in accordance with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines. Each container is leak-proof, fire-resistant, and features GPS tracking for real-time monitoring.
According to Swatantra Kumar Singh, Director of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, the Pithampur facility is specifically engineered for the secure incineration of waste generated by industrial establishments throughout the state. A trial run for the disposal of 10 metric tonnes of UCIL waste took place in 2015, monitored by the CPCB, complying with all established safety parameters.
Singh noted that the state-of-the-art Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) at Pithampur has been successfully incinerating waste from various organizations since 2006, following similar storage and operational processes as those at UCIL.
He pointed out that emissions from the 2015 trial run of UCIL waste disposal were found to meet the national standards. Furthermore, the findings indicated that in the past decade, the cultivation area for soybean and wheat crops in the Pithampur vicinity has expanded.
“The results demonstrated that no harmful substances were detected in the air or water following the disposal process. The residual waste from incineration was securely managed using a double composite liner system to ensure environmental safety,” he stated.
