No need to panic about 900 tonnes of ash from Union Carbide factory waste incineration: MP minister

Indore, Dec 4 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah on Thursday said no one needs to panic about the approximately 900 tonnes of Union Carbide factory toxic waste ash.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Minister said the ash would be properly disposed of as per guidelines of Supreme Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984. At least 5,479 people were killed and thousands were maimed. It is considered one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

"It has been 41 years since the tragedy. There was widespread fear among people that the Union Carbide factory waste was toxic. Our government has incinerated all the waste, freeing people from this fear. Now only the ashes remain. We will properly dispose of the ash under the guidance of the Supreme Court and High Court. No one needs to worry about it," he told reporters here.

Local residents have been demanding that the ash not be disposed of in Pithampur industrial area.

Shah, however, did not clarify whether the ash would be disposed of in Pithampur.

According to officials, the ash is currently safely stored in a leak-proof storage shed at a waste disposal plant operated by a private company in Pithampur.

Residents of the area want the "toxic ash" from the Union Carbide factory to be disposed of in a secluded location instead of the special landfill cell (a multi-layered pit) being constructed at the plant. They have claimed the ash could be released from the landfill cell in the event of an accident or natural disaster like an earthquake.

A total of 358 tonnes of waste, including 337 tonnes of toxic waste, 19 tonnes of contaminated soil, and 2.2 tonnes of packaging material from the Union Carbide factory transported to the Pithampur plant, about 250 kilometres from the state capital, on January 2 this year.

The process of incinerating this waste in stages was completed in early July, resulting in approximately 900 tonnes of ash.

According to officials, the state government had planned to dispose of this ash by placing it in a landfill cell under construction at the Pithampur plant.

However, the Jabalpur-based principal bench of the High Court rejected the proposal on October 8, stating the disposal site was too close to human habitation.

The High Court also directed the state government to submit a report outlining alternative sites for the disposal of the ash. PTI HWP MAS BNM