Dhar (MP), March 1: A group of women staged an agitation in Pithampur town in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district on Saturday to protest against the incineration of the waste linked to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, a day after its trial burning began.
However, the protesters ended the sit-in within half-an-hour after the police held discussions with them, an official said.
The trial incineration of 10 tonnes out of a total of 337 tonnes of hazardous waste commenced on Friday afternoon in Pithampur area with initial reports indicating that the air quality and other monitored parameters were within normal ranges.
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But to oppose the incineration of the waste in Pithampur, several women gathered near the local bus stand, sporting black bands on their foreheads and holding pictures of Dr B R Ambedkar.
During the sit-in, protest leader Monika Solanki said, “A huge number of people died due to the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 as a result of toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory. The bones of the victims of this industrial disaster are also being burnt at the incinerator along with the waste.”
“We have been opposing the incineration of this waste here for the last many years as it will have an adverse impact on the health of the people and environment in Pithampur. Therefore, we request the government to take back this waste from here,” she said.
Talking to PTI, Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh said, “We reached out to the protesters and told them that the trial was going on scientifically and safely at Pithampur, about 50 km off the district headquarters. After that, the protesters ended the sit-in within 30 minutes.”
A large contingent of police has been deployed around the incineration site as several protests were staged ever since the 337 tonnes of waste was brought to Pithampur from Bhopal, some 250 kilometres away, in special trucks on January 2.
This trial incineration of this waste is being conducted as per the directives of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
In its order passed on February 18, the high court had directed the state government to undertake the first trial run of 10 metric tonnes by taking all protocols into consideration on February 27.
“If there is no adverse effect, the second trial run will take place on March 4, followed by the third trial run on March 10. Thereafter, based on results of the same, after the due tests, they will continue to dispose of the remaining waste and file the status report,” the HC said in the order.
On February 27, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to transfer and dispose of the waste.
Allaying fears of the general public, the Madhya Pradesh government has maintained that the waste comprises soil from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory, reactor residue, Sevin (pesticide) residue, naphthalene residue, and “semi-processed” waste.
The Bhopal gas tragedy, which occurred during the night of December 2-3, 1984, involved a catastrophic leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide facility resulting in the deaths of at least 5,479 people and left thousands with severe health repercussions, marking it as one of the deadliest industrial disasters in history.
There are 1,250 units in Pithampur industrial area where more than one lakh workers work, including migrants from other states. (PTI)
