BHOPAL/JABALPUR, Jan 5: A petition has been filed in the National Green Tribunal’s Bhopal bench, seeking an assurance from the Madhya Pradesh government that the Union Carbide waste disposal in Pithampur won’t harm people in nearby areas.
The petition, filed by a Jabalpur-based social organisation, has urged the NGT to direct the state’s chief secretary to declare on oath about the safety of people in Pithampur in Dhar district where the waste has been transported for disposal.
On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 persons and leaving thousands with serious injuries and long-lasting health issues.
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Nearly 337 tons of Union Carbide waste reached Pithampur from Bhopal on Thursday for disposal following an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The petition before the NGT seeks direction to the authorities in Dhar to submit on oath that residents in the area would not be harmed due to the disposal of the waste.
Furthermore, the petition seeks direction to the MP government to publish in Hindi and English newspapers a specific report regarding the disposal of this waste to allay public concerns, PG Najpandey of the Nagrik Upbhokta Margdarshak Manch and activist Sunil Bhargav said.
The social organisation filed the petition in the NGT on Friday, Najpandey told PTI.
There is apprehension among residents because thousands of people died due to the leak of toxic methyl isocyanate gas from Union Carbide factory in December 1984, he said.
“Therefore, we have moved the NGT to take cognisance of their concerns,” Najpandey said.
“We don’t want this toxic waste in our area,” is the refrain of locals at Tarpura, a village adjacent to Pithampur’s waste incineration unit where the huge quantity of waste has been brought for disposal.
The plan to dispose of the waste linked to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, among the worst industrial disasters in the world, has sparked off protests in the area.
The incineration of a huge quantity of toxic waste will be hazardous for humans as well as the environment, the villagers fear, even though the Madhya Pradesh government has sought to assure them that there would be no harmful consequences.
The administration has issued prohibitory orders in the 100-metre radius around the waste disposal unit in Pithampur and deployed a large police force.
Many residents of Tarpura work in industrial units in Pithampur. (PTI)
