BHOPAL/INDORE: Trucks carrying hazardous waste left over from the 1984 gas tragedy began rolling out of the abandoned Union Carbide site in Bhopal for a disposal plant in Pithampur, 230km away, on Wednesday night, even as workers of other factories in the industrial estate near Indore voiced concern about their safety.
“Transportation to Pithampur has begun. The convoy has been fortified with the highest security protocol ever witnessed in movement of industrial waste in the country,” said MP gas relief & rehabilitation department director Swatantra Kumar Singh.
TOI had reported Wednesday that the trucks were loaded and ready to move. At 9pm, the convoy carrying 337 metric tons of waste in sealed containers set out from Bhopal, escorted by police and emergency vehicles along a green corridor.
Forty years of wait and four days of suspense had ended. The scars of the world’s worst industrial disaster may never heal, but a chapter from the tragic episode is drawing to a close. It would take about seven hours to reach the final destination, said Singh.
MP pollution control board explains safety steps to allay fears over toxic waste disposal
The convoy of 40 vehicles stretched over a kilometre. Twelve trucks are carrying the hazardous cargo. It’s a no-halt, no-stop journey to
Pithampur Waste Management
Pvt Ltd, where the waste will be incinerated. Five district administrations are on high alert. Around 700 security personnel have been deployed for the convoy.
“The 337 MT of UCIL waste will undergo scientific disposal within three to nine months,” said Singh.
It took strong words from Madhya Pradesh HC to get the administration moving on the long-pending disposal of this toxic waste. “Are you waiting for another tragedy,” a division bench of Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain had asked the authorities in their Dec 3 order. HC set a deadline of four weeks to shift the hazardous waste for disposal.
Singh has repeatedly assured all safety factors have been taken care of and there is no risk to the environment, land, or people around the disposal plant at Pithampur.
On Wednesday, aiming to ease anxiety among Pithampur residents and industrialists about the
Union Carbide waste
disposal, MP pollution control board regional officer in Indore Shriniwas Dwivedi issued a video statement explaining the safety precautions. “A special shed has been created with a concrete floor. It is leakproof,” Dwivedi says in the video, adding: “No activity will be carried out that will affect the people, farm, property, land or environment.”
At Pithampur, however, workers at other plants are worried about potential fallout. “Employees are scared. We are receiving calls from family members of our employees enquiring about the situation in Pithampur. Some employees have requested leave. The circumstances are extraordinary and everyone is under immense pressure,” said Dr Darshan Kataria, an industrialist at Pithampur.
Another industrialist from Pithampur Sector 2, where the waste disposal factory is situated, said he has lost count of calls made to various govt departments and fellow industrialists regarding contingency measures.
“What occurred in Bhopal was an unfortunate accident, but what is happening now can be handled by taking everyone in confidence. It presents a difficult situation and is deeply unsettling for us as we cannot be immune to the problem,” said Rajendra Modi, director of an engineering products manufacturing unit in Pithampur.
Local industrialists say govt officials neither initiated discussions with them nor apprised them about safety measures implemented for industries and residents in proximity to the disposal facility.
Swatantra Kumar Singh has, through public statements, repeatedly allayed safety concerns and assured disposal and incineration shall be conducted under expert supervision without any adverse consequences.
