Union Carbide waste disposal protests: Normalcy has returned to Pithampur after four days, says SP

Dhar (MP), Jan 6 (PTI) Normalcy has returned to Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, which has been rocked by protests over disposal of 337 tonnes of hazardous waste linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy, and the High Court ruling on the issue has brought "great relief", a senior police official said on Monday.

The town, some 50 kilometres from the district headquarters and a major industrial belt of the state, saw protests on Friday and Saturday, including two men attempting self-immolation, residents carrying out sit-ins and a mob pelting stones at the gate of the unit where the waste is set to be disposed of.

On Monday, markets remained open, people were seen moving about like other days and police barricades had gone from most parts of the town with a population of 1.75 lakh. Pithampur, some 30 kilometres from MP's commercial capital Indore, is home to at least 700 industrial units.

"After four days, there is calm in Pithampur. The High Court hearing has come as great relief. The situation here now is peaceful," Dhar Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh told PTI.

Amid a row over the disposal of Union Carbide factory waste, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday directed the state government to take steps as per safety protocols in six weeks, besides prohibiting media from giving incorrect news on the same.

A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice SK Kait and Justice Vivek Jain granted time to the state government after Advocate General Prashant Singh sought it to take the people of Pithampur into confidence and dispel fear from their minds before proceeding with the waste disposal.

The advocate general submitted to the court that unrest had been caused in Pithampur township due to fictitious and fake news regarding the Union Carbide waste disposal.

Acting on the state government's submission, the bench restrained the print, audio and visual media from carrying any incorrect news on the matter.

Meanwhile, the SP said two persons, identified as Govardhan Pawar and Bharat Meena, were arrested for allegedly spreading rumours to cause violence.

The two, who were charged under section 151 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, were remanded in judicial custody, the SP informed.

Pawar and Meena have been charged in connection with a social media rumour that one of the 12 containers in which the waste was ferried from Bhopal to Pithampur was missing, the SP said.

The SP also said the 12 trucks were parked on the factory's premises in the presence of guards.

To debunk the rumour, authorities on Saturday took residents and elected representatives to the site to show them that all containers were accounted for.

On Friday, two men attempted self-immolation amid a bandh call given by the Pithampur Bachao Samiti. They were undergoing treatment at a hospital in Indore, where doctors said the two were out of danger.

On Saturday, a mob of 100-150 persons pelted stones at the gate of the unit where the incineration is set to take place, the incident coming a day after prohibitory orders under section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Surakhsa Sanhita (BNSS) were imposed at the site.

It will be in force till January 12 and has been invoked to avoid loss of life and property, display of arms, celebratory firing and maintaining peace around the incineration facility, the order issued by district authorities on Friday read.

The protests also led to top officials arriving in the town to assure residents that no decision would be taken by the state government that could cause any harm to them. PTI LAL BNM