Over 40 years after Bhopal gas tragedy, all 337 tons of Union Carbide waste burnt to ashes

Indore, Jun 30 (PTI) The entire 337 tons of waste of the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has been incinerated and reduced to ashes at a disposal plant in Madhya Pradesh's Pithampur town, an official said on Monday, six months after the toxic consignment was brought to the unit.

While 30 tons of the waste was burnt earlier during three trials at the plant, the remaining 307 tons was incinerated between May 5 and the intervening night of June 29-30, the State Pollution Control Board official said, marking the end of a dark chapter in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

The waste disposal at the plant in Dhar district's Pithampur industrial town was undertaken following directives of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, an exercise which initially faced protests from local residents who feared adverse impact on the environment and their health.

The highly poisonous methyl isocyanate gas (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, causing one of the biggest industrial disasters in the world. At least 5,479 persons were killed and thousands were maimed.

The process of burning 307 tons of the factory waste at the disposal plant operated by a private company in Pithampur began around 7.45 pm on May 5 and ended on the intervening night of June 29-30 at 1 am, State Pollution Control Board's regional officer Srinivas Dwivedi told PTI.

It was incinerated at a maximum rate of 270 kg per hour under the supervision of technical experts of the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board, following the High Court's directive issued on March 27, he said.

During the waste disposal process, the emission of different gases and particles from the Pithampur plant was monitored on a real-time basis by an online mechanism and all emissions were found to be within standard limits, the official said.

"We have no information about any adverse effect on the health of people living in surrounding areas during the incineration of the waste," he said.

According to Dwivedi, the ash and other residue left after burning the total 337 tons of waste were being safely packed in sacks and kept in a leak-proof storage shed of the plant.

Special landfill cells were being constructed as per scientific process to bury the residue (waste leftovers) in the ground, and this work is expected to be completed by November, he informed.

"If everything goes well, these residue will also be disposed of by December. Before this, the residue will be treated scientifically so that their burial does not cause any harm to the environment," the official said.

Later, in a press release, the State Pollution Control Board said about 19 tons of 'excess waste' found in the soil of the Union Carbide factory premises is being incinerated at the Pithampur plant and this process will be completed by July 3.

According to the release, 2.22 tons of waste of the packaging material in which all the waste of the Union Carbide factory was brought in January in vehicles has been put separately and it will be buried scientifically after treatment.

During the burning of the Union Carbide waste, the emissions of particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen fluoride and oxides of nitrogen as well as mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals from the Pithampur plant were found to be within standard limits, it said.

The ambient air quality in villages around the plant -- Tarapura, Chirakhan and Bajrangpura - also remained within prescribed standards during the incineration of the waste, it said.

The waste was transported from Bhopal to the plant in Pithampur, about 250 km from the state capital, on January 2.

Initially, 30 tons of waste was burnt at the plant during three trials.

After this, citing the analysis report, the state government told the HC that during the trials conducted at the rates of 135 kg per hour, 180 kg per hour and 270 kg per hour, the emissions were found to be within prescribed limits.

According to the state government, the waste from the Union Carbide factory included soil from the premises of the closed unit, reactor residue, Sevin (pesticide) residue, naphthal residue and "semi-processed" residue.

Scientific evidence shows that effect of Sevin and naphthal chemicals in this waste has already become "almost negligible". There was no presence of methyl isocyanate gas in the waste and it also did not contain any radioactive particles, as per the State Pollution Control Board. PTI HWP MAS GK RSY