Bhopal:

Twelve containers of hazardous waste – remnants from the Union carbide disaster 40 years ago are being sent to Pithampur from Bhopal in a major operation under heavy security. The toxic waste is being transported through a 250-kilometer-long green corridor, accompanied by ambulances, police vehicles, and fire brigades. Fifty police personnel from Bhopal are escorting the containers. 

The Police Commissioner said the waste is being moved in keeping with the highest safety standards. An officer of the Additional Superintendent of Police-level is overseeing the transportation that started late on Wednesday evening.

The 337 metric tonnes of toxic waste was stored at the abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. 

It was loaded in 12 specially designed leak-proof and fire-resistant containers. Each container carries approximately 30 tonnes of waste, packed in jumbo HDPE bags to prevent chemical reactions.

Ahead of the shift, the factory’s 200-meter radius was sealed.

Extensive Preparations were made for the safe transportation of the waste. Around 200 workers were involved in the process, who worked in short, 30-minute shifts.

They stuck to strict safety measures, including the use of PPE kits. 
There has been massive resistance to the waste disposal from the civil society in Pithampur, where the waste is headed.

More than 10 organisations have called for a shutdown tomorrow, demanding the waste be sent abroad instead of Pithampur.

Doctors from Indore’s Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital Alumni Association have filed a petition questioning the waste disposal process without adequate trials.

Pithampur Plant 

The waste disposal plant in Pithampur is the only state-of-the-art incineration plant in Madhya Pradesh. It is operated by Ramky Enviro Engineers under CPCB guidelines. The waste will be burned on a special wooden platform built 25 feet above the ground.

The burning process will also follow strict scientific protocols.
Initial testing will determine the season, temperature, and quantity for incineration.

At a speed of 90 kg/hour, it will take approximately 153 days to dispose of all 337 tonnes of waste. If the speed is increased to 270 kg/hour, it will take 51 days.

Safety and Environmental Monitoring

Special care is being taken to prevent environmental contamination:
Air quality is monitored using equipment installed at three locations within the factory campus.

Dust and soil from areas where the waste was stored are also being transported for testing.

What The Waste Comprises

The toxic waste includes five types of hazardous materials, including soil, pesticide residues, and chemicals left from manufacturing processes. The disposal operation comes nearly 40 years after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, which claimed over 5,000 lives due to the release of methyl isocyanate gas.

In 2015, part of the waste was incinerated at the Pithampur plant as part of a trial run, burning 90 kg per hour. Based on this success, the High Court directed the disposal of the remaining waste by January 6, 2025.

Jabalpur:

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to dispose of the toxic waste lying at the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, and said even 40 years after the gas disaster, the authorities are in a “state of inertia” that may cause “another tragedy”.

Describing it as a “sorry state of affairs”, the high court asked the government to remove and transport the hazardous waste from the site within four weeks, failing which it will have to face contempt proceedings.

Highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide factory during the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, eventually killing 5,479 people and maiming more than five lakh others.

In a strongly-worded order passed on Tuesday, a division bench comprising HC Chief Justice SK Kait and Justice Vivek Jain said, “We fail to understand that in spite of issuance of various directions from time to time by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as well as by this Court, pursuant to the plan dated 23.03.2024, till date no steps seem to have been taken to remove to the toxic waste and material.”

“This is a really sorry state of affairs because the removal of toxic waste from plant site, decommissioning the MIC and Sevin plants and removal of contaminants that have spread in the surrounding soil and groundwater, are of paramount requirement for safety of general public of Bhopal city,” it said.

Incidentally, the MIC gas disaster at Bhopal took place on this very date (December 2), exactly 40 years ago, it said.

“They are still in a state of inertia despite 40 years from the date of the gas tragedy. Though the plan has been sanctioned, a contract has been awarded, but still the authorities are in inertia that may lead to another tragedy to take shape before acting further,” the division bench observed.

The court asked the authorities to undertake all safety measures during the transportation and disposal of the toxic waste/material.

The toxic waste/material should be sent to the place assigned within four weeks, failing which the Madhya Pradesh chief secretary and the principal secretary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department should personally remain present (before the court) to explain as to why various orders passed by this court have not been complied with, it added.

It asked the principal secretary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department to perform the statutory obligations and duties under the environmental laws of this country.

“We further direct immediate clean-up of the Union Carbide factory site at Bhopal and to take all remedial measures for removal and safe disposal of the entire toxic waste/material from the area concerned,” the bench said.

“It is not in dispute that the contract for this purpose is dated 23rd September, 2021. The money has already been paid on 04.03.2024. The plan produced by the Counsel for State Government is dated 20.03.2024. As per the said plan, the minimum period has been shown as 185 days and maximum 377 days,” the bench said.

The cost to implement the directions shall be borne by the state and the central government as already directed by this court, it said in the order.

“The learned counsel appearing for the Central Government submits that they have already paid their share to the State Government, however, the State Government has not spent that amount. Whereas the learned Additional Advocate General appearing for State submits that they have already received Rs 126 crore and contract awarded and the contractor has already been paid 20% of the aforesaid amount. However, till date the contractor concerned has not taken any steps,” the bench said.

The high court then directed the respondents, the state government and the authorities concerned to sit together, and said if any permission or any formality is required, the same is to be granted within one week.

If any of the departments fails to comply with the order passed by the court, the principal secretary of the department shall be prosecuted under the Contempt of Courts Act, the order read.

“If any of the authorities creates any hurdle or impediment regarding compliance of the orders of this Court, the Chief Secretary of the State Government of MP shall indicate on the next date of hearing so that this Court may take strict action against the said authority”, the court said.

The high court bench then ordered that the compliance report be supported with the personal affidavit of the principal secretary, Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department.

“The said report shall contain each day’s progress starting from tomorrow onwards”, the bench observed.

The court then listed the matter for hearing on January 6, 2025. 

Bhopal:

Union Carbide factory, the site of the deadly gas leak 40 years ago which was once located on Bhopal’s outskirts, is no longer ostracised with its neighbourhood now dotted with residential and commercial establishments.

The real estate in the city grew, though slowly and haphazardly, in the past four decades, though the catastrophe slowed down the development of Bhopal compared to other state capitals.

A prominent shopping mall-cum-entertainment centre is now located just 4 km away and hundreds of residential colonies have cropped up on the then vacant land near the disaster site, overlooking pollution that the tragedy created – be it groundwater or soil contamination.

The highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant here on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, killing 5,479 persons and maiming more than five lakh others.

The Union Carbide factory was part of the Kali Parade industrial campus and it was on the outskirts of the present-day old city, Vishnu Rathore, a former corporator who had represented the adjoining areas, told PTI.

“Now, we can say it is in the middle of the city as hundreds of residential colonies and shopping outlets catering to the people’s needs have come up,” he said.

Rathore, who was 16 years’ old at the time of disaster, said the area is still under-developed but the real estate business has been thriving in the neighbourhood of the abandoned factory site.

Since the tragedy, the city has seen a significant population growth and urban development, including in areas surrounding the Union Carbide plant campus, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) Bhopal unit chief Manoj Singh Meek said.

“The area in the vicinity of Union Carbide, located in northern part of the city, must have added around 100 residential colonies and a population of three lakh during the past four decades,” he said.

But, the industrial disaster severely dented Bhopal’s development and economic growth, Meek said.

“Due to this disaster, Bhopal lagged behind in the race of development of state capitals. No new industrial and big business development took place in Bhopal, resulting in slow pace of the city’s growth,” Meek said.

At the time of the gas tragedy, Bhopal’s population was around 8.5 lakh. Nearly 5.2 lakh persons, including 2 lakh children and about 3,000 pregnant women, were then residing in the 36 wards which were later designated as “gas-affected,” he said.

The immediate aftermath of the disaster saw a significant number of people leaving the city due to health concerns and fear of lingering contamination, Meek said.

But over the time, the population stabilised and began to grow, influenced by factors like urbanisation and economic opportunities, he said.

By 1991, the population grew, indicating a gradual return and influx of residents, Meek said.

He said development in the immediate vicinity of the gas leak site has been “cautious” due to lingering contamination concerns.

The plant site remains largely abandoned, with limited residential or commercial projects directly adjacent to it, the CREDAI official said.

But, the urban expansion and population pressure in peripheral areas have spurred development in neighbourhoods further from the plant, he said.

Former chairman of the Institute of Town Planners India (ITPI), MP Chapter, Shubhashis Banerjee said most of the residential development adjacent to Union Carbide has been illegal.

“The compensation disbursed in the years after the tragedy gave a boost to the local economy, resulting in small-ticket size illegal real estate development in surrounding areas,” he said.

The gas leak site was not dealt with properly, unlike Hiroshima in Japan, which faced an atomic bomb attack, he opined.

“We didn’t handle the catastrophe site properly. The project for the memorial was prepared but could not be implemented. A world class memorial should have been developed there,” he said.

Banerjee said the tragedy alerted the government to strengthen the environmental rules and safety measures for the hazardous industry across the country.

“This slowed the pace of industrialisation,” he said.

Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, an organisation of gas survivors, said development took place at a fast pace after the construction of an overbridge parallel to Union Carbide campus.

“The overbridge was constructed on the solar evaporation ponds of Union Carbide where the toxic waste was being dumped. After that, large-scale real estate development took place in neighbouring areas,” she said.

Even a part of the solar evaporation pond has been encroached upon, Dhingra claimed.

In 2010, it was decided to shift the settlements adjacent to the Union Carbide factory campus and the Centre had sanctioned Rs 40 crore, but the proposal was shelved and situation became grimmer later on, she said.

The land and groundwater in the surrounding areas have turned toxic, but the people are living in such conditions, Dhingra said, while blaming politicians for the “mess” around the gas leak site. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bhopal:

Nearly 21 months before the world’s worst industrial disaster hit Bhopal, a lawyer had sent a notice to Union Carbide asking it to stop producing toxic gases at its pesticide plant here, citing grave public health risk.

However, the US multinational company summarily rejected his allegations, an act which proved costly as the monumental disaster unfolded on the intervening chilly winter night of December 2 and 3, 1984.

The highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the plant, killing 5,479 persons and maiming more than five lakh others.

The lawyer, Shahnawaz Khan, served a legal notice to the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) on March 4, 1983, asking it to stop producing toxic gases that risked the lives of 50,000 persons living in the vicinity.

But, instead of putting its house in order by overhauling its safety apparatus, the UCIL on April 29, 1983, in a strongly-worded reply to Mr Khan, dismissed his concerns and charges as “baseless”.

In the reply’s last paragraph, UCIL’s Bhopal unit works manager J Mukund then wrote, “We once again repudiate all the allegations made in your notice of 4th March, 1983, and should you take any legal action against us, the same shall be defended at your risk and cost.” The Bhopal-based lawyer is the nephew of freedom fighter Khan Shakir Ali Khan, a four-time MLA from here who was popularly known as “Sher-e-Bhopal”.

Shahnawaz Khan told PTI that after getting the reply to his notice, he started collecting documents from police and other sources on the incidents of leak and consequent death to file a case against the UCIL.

“Before I could collect documents, the gas leaked from the Carbide factory,” the 73-year-old lawyer said.

Asked about his notice, Mr Khan said he was moved after a worker, Ashraf, of the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal died following leak of phosgene gas from the plant on December 25, 1981.

“On January 9 (1982), twenty-five workers were hospitalised following leak at the plant, after which the workers protested,” he recalled.

Another toxic gas leak incident occurred in March 1982. After yet another leak on October 5 the same year, hundreds of residents living near the plant were hospitalised, he said.

“Moved by this, I served a legal notice to UCIL on March 4, 1983,” Mr Khan said, showing the document and the company’s reply.

Mr Khan’s notice pointed out that the factory was located within the Bhopal Municipal Corporation limits in the midst of a populated area and more than 50,000 persons are residing in residential colonies adjacent to it.

“Earlier, one person lost his life in your factory. A few days ago, a serious accident took place in your factory,” it stated.

With the storage and usage of toxic gases and hazardous and poisonous chemicals, residents in the nearby colonies are living in constant danger. They are living in fear, there is lurking danger of anything untoward happening taking place, the notice said.

The lives of 50,000 persons are in danger. Death looms over them all the time, it stated.

“Therefore, you are hereby, through this notice, directed to stop usage of toxic gases and hazardous and poisonous chemicals in your factory within 15 days from the date of this notice, failing which I shall be constrained to take legal action against your factory in the competent court of law and the consequences thereof Union Carbide shall be fully responsible,” it added.

More than a month after Mr Khan served the notice, UCIL’s works manager Mukund in his reply said the allegations were baseless and made out of ignorance of the factory operations.

“Our pesticide complex at Bhopal, like any such complex in the world, is equipped with sophisticated devices for handling various types of chemicals in our manufacturing process or any hazardous incident in the course of manufacturing operations and all precautions are taken for safety of persons working in the factory all also those living in the vicinity,” the reply read.

“In fact, we have taken appropriate precautions with a view to ensure that no pollution is caused by our pesticide complex and your allegation that the persons living in the various colonies near to the industrial area remain under constant threat and danger, is absolutely baseless,” it stated.

The reply further said the company had the requisite permission from the Centre and the state government to operate the plant which is situated in an industrial area.

The US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)-designed Union Carbide India Limited’s plant was built in Bhopal in 1969, the lawyer said.

It was a formulation factory for UCC’s Sevin brand of pesticides, produced by reacting methyl isocyanate and alpha naphthol, he said.

In 1975, the UCC decided to manufacture ingredients of Sevin at its Bhopal unit. Though the regulations then prohibited polluting activity in the two-km periphery from the railway station, the UCC got necessary clearance, he added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A poignant statue commemorating the Bhopal gas tragedy – a child clinging to its mother — stands near the infamous Union Carbide factory. Dutch artist Ruth Waterman sculpted this statue in 1985, moved by the tragedy and her parents’ deaths in a Nazi gas chamber. Forty years on, thousands of survivors of Bhopal tragedy continue to suffer, their health deteriorating with insufficient medical care. Nearly half the allotted posts of doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff in gas relief hospitals lie vacant, despite orders from the state High Court and the Supreme Court to appoint staff.

Of the 1,247 posts in gas relief hospitals – only 749, a little over half, are filled. On May 16, 2024, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department advertised for 46 specialists and 69 medical officers. On June 27, 2024, the Health Services Directorate ordered the posting of only 15 medical officers including 5 specialists. 

Since then, many doctors have been informally told that these orders have been cancelled. 

Sources reveal that some doctors were informed by the Cabinet Minister that their selection order was void. Dr Pratap Singh whose wife was selected, asserted that many doctors applied for deputation, but the selection process stalled without explanation.

Despite a High Court directive on November 30, 2023, threatening contempt proceedings against top officials for failing to fill vacancies, little progress has been made. The Health Department’s May 16 advertisement yielded only 15 appointed doctors, and even that list was halted.

The absence of specialist doctors, including anaesthesiologists, hinders surgical procedures in gas relief hospitals. Medical Minister Rajendra Shukla said, “Gas relief hospitals receive regular appointments. We aim to resolve these issues.”

“Fifteen doctors have been appointed across eight hospitals, and more appointments will follow within ten days,” said state minister Vijay Shah.

On the ground, little has changed. 

Noor Jahan, a resident of Arif Nagar, struggles with severe health problems. “My young son died due to the gas; he was just two years old,” she recalled. “Now, I have knee pain, diabetes, and blood pressure issues. The hospitals have long queues, no doctors, and no medicines,” she said.

Displaying medical reports from a private hospital, Kammo Begum, another survivor, said, “I suffer from headaches and walking difficulties. Waiting for hours in a government hospital is beyond my capacity”.

Meena Panthi, who lost her entire family in the tragedy, shared her frustration. “I have heel pain and breathlessness. The Gas Relief Hospital only prescribes medicines from a distance, they never conduct thorough examinations,” she said.