Jabalpur, Feb 18: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday allowed the state government to carry out a trial run of the disposal of 40-year-old chemical waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in Pithampur area of Dhar district.
The incineration at a disposal plant inside the industrial area of Pithampur will be carried out in three phases from February 27, Advocate General Prashant Singh told reporters here after a court hearing.
The government on Tuesday filed a compliance report, sought by the high court in January, about the steps it had taken for creating public awareness about the waste disposal process, he said.
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Locals in Pithampur are fiercely opposed to the planned disposal, near their town, of the waste linked to the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy which killed more than 5,000 people.
It has carried out an awareness campaign and now a trial run of the disposal should be allowed, the government requested the court.
As per the HC order, the trial run will be carried out in three phases, with 10 tons of waste being disposed of in each phase, said advocate general Singh who represented the government.
In the phase of the trial, waste will be disposed of at a rate of 135 kilograms per hour. It will be accelerated to 180 kg per hour and 270 kg per hour in the second and third phases, he said.
As per the HC’s directions, the first trial run will take place on February 27, the second on March 4, followed by the third on a date yet unspecified, the advocate general added.
Results of the trial runs will be submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board, which will then prescribe the ‘feed rate’ at which disposal of the remaining waste should be carried out, he said.
A total of 337 tons of hazardous waste from the Union Carbide factory has arrived at the Pithampur disposal plant, over 200 km from Bhopal.
A compliance report will be submitted to the court on March 27.
Sumit Raghuvanshi, a local resident who has moved the high court against the planned disposal of the waste in Pithampur, said he and others were steadfast on their stand.
“We have submitted a plea to the high court, stating that the Union Carbide waste should not be disposed of in Pithampur because the town is already very polluted,” he said.
The Air Quality Index in the area was 350 and the groundwater was not drinkable, Raghuvanshi claimed.
“I hope the high court will not allow the disposal of waste in Pithampur. The HC heard our plea today. Possibly, the court will take a decision on our plea at the next hearing,” he said.
While expressing his faith in the court, Raghuvanshi said residents of Pithampur have also sent one lakh postcards to the President and Chief Justice of India, opposing the disposal.
On Monday, the Supreme Court, hearing a petition, sought responses from the Centre, Madhya Pradesh and the state pollution control board on the issue.
The apex court agreed to hear the plea challenging the December 3, 2024, and January 6, 2025, orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The high court, in its December order, had rebuked the state authorities for not cleaning up the Union Carbide site in Bhopal despite directions from the Supreme Court, and set a four-week deadline to shift the waste to a disposal site.
On January 6, the HC asked the state government to take steps within six weeks to dispose of the waste while following the safety protocol.
In the face of local opposition, the Dhar administration has been carrying out an awareness drive to convince the residents that the disposal would not pose any threat to humans and the environment.
Methyl isocyanate, a highly toxic gas, leaked from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, killing as many as 5,479 people within a few days and leaving thousands with serious health problems and long-term disabilities. (PTI)
