Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Send waste to USA, don't pollute Pithampur, say four organisations

Bhopal: Four organisations working for the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors demanded on Monday that the 337-tonne waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory must be sent to United States, where the firm owning the facility is headquartered, rather than being incinerated in Pithampur in Dhar district.

There have been protests from various outfits and residents since the waste was brought to Pithampur, an industrial town some 250 kilometres from here, on January 2 for incineration at a private facility. The 337 tonnes waste was unloaded on February 13 from the trucks that transported it from Bhopal.

Addressing a press conference, the representatives of these four organisations also sought to link the demand to the "inhuman" way the US was deporting illegal immigrants back to India. The Union Carbide factory is now owned by Dow Chemicals, which is a US firm.

The MP Pollution Control Board in December served notice to the incineration facility, where the waste is planned to be disposed of, for several violations of Water Protection Act 1974, they said.

Excessive amount of diesel will be burnt and excessive amount of hazardous ash is likely to be generated after incineration of Union Carbide's hazardous waste, they said citing the MPPCB notice.

Rashida Bee, president of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh and a Goldman Prize awardee, cited official documents to claim that 80,000 litres of diesel was used when 10 tonnes of this waste was incinerated on trial basis in 2015.

"This was more than 30 times the diesel used for hazardous waste from another source from 2010-2012. Burning excessive amounts of diesel will cause severe pollution though massive dilution of emissions will falsely indicate low or undetectable levels of dioxins and furans," she said.

Balkrishna Namdeo, president, Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha said a document released by the MOEF made it clear that the incineration of Union Carbide's hazardous waste in the Pithampur facility is expected to produce over 900 tons of residue, which will contain significant amounts of heavy metals.

"The Pithampur facility plans to isolate this massive amount of residue with polythene sheets in their landfill. There is every likelihood of these heavy metals causing toxic contamination of groundwater around the facility. The January 2025 ground water sampling report by Pithampur Bachao Samiti clearly shows presence of Dichlorobezene and Trichlorobenzene, which are contaminants reported in Bhopal ground water as well," he said.

Showing documents she recently obtained under Right to Information, Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information & Action cited the MPPCB notice to the operators of Pithampur Waste Management facility for violating Water Protection Act, adding that seepage from landfills was already contaminating groundwater in the vicinity of the facility.

"Moreover, these reports from August and December 2024 point out that the facility lacks statutory protection facilities such as storm drains, sump and circulation system. The fact that a final report from MPPCB on the adequacy of the Pithampur facility remains unavailable till date should be a matter of interest for the honourable judges deciding on the issue," Dhingra said.

Nawab Khan, President of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, strongly pushed for Union Carbide's hazardous waste to be sent to USA, adding that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, in 2003, compelled Unilever to carry 300 tonnes of its hazardous waste from Kodaikanal in the southern state to New York.

Instead of causing "Bhopal tragedy in slow motion" in Pithampur, the MPPCB must follow the precedent set by its Tamil Nadu counterpart, he said.

"If the US government can send back our citizens in shackles, can't our government take the legally valid route and send Union Carbide's poisonous waste to USA," Khan asked.

The MP government has maintained that the waste comprises soil, reactor residues, sevin (pesticide) residues, naphthol and semi-processed remnants, while the MPPCB claimed scientific evidence suggests the chemical effects of sevin and naphthol in the waste have now become "nought".

After the protests, the local administration had launched an intense public awareness campaign to allay apprehensions about the waste disposal.

In the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 people and leaving thousands with serious health problems and long-term disabilities.