MP drags feet on hazardous waste disposal

Madhya Pradesh, which in 1984 witnessed the worst industrial disasters, the gas leak from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, still does not have the infrastructure to manage hazardous wastes.

Despite appeals by the MP chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), industries producing hazardous waste neither have the permission for onsite storage nor is there a government-identified site for their disposal.

These industries have to incur high transportation costs in dispatching these wastes to two private hazardous waste management companies in Gujarat. The state had identified 16 sites for hazardous waste disposal and three of them were notified a few years back.

But transportation of these wastes needs lengthy clearances from the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board.

Though Gujarat-based companies have shown interest in setting up infrastructure in MP, the state government has shown no interest. The state has 183 units that generate 89,593 tonnes of recyclable waste, and 198,669 tones of hazardous waste every year.

"More than 25 companies in Indore, Dewas and Pithampur dispatch tonnes of hazardous waste to Gujarat and the transportation cost for each unit is Rs 1,000 a tonne to Gujarat, processing costs another Rs 1,500-3,000 a tonne plus loading/unloading and processing costs that vary between Rs 5,00-2,500 a tonne depending upon the toxicity of the waste," Rajendra Prasad, vice-president of the Industries Association Dewas and member of the CII (MP Council), told Business Standard.

According to CII sources, the Canadian International Development Agency had conducted a study on hazardous waste-generating industries in MP and proposed a Rs 10 crore plan to the state government and MP Pollution Control Board, but little has been done so far.

The government has only issued a notification identifying a site at Sanwer Road in Indore. The government is yet to float tenders for companies, interested in developing infrastructure at the site, to come forward.

"We will float tenders soon. Private companies will get a central government subsidy if they develop hazardous waste management infrastructure.

"Otherwise, the hazardous waste-generating companies will have to manage the site or create their own infrastructure, we will not be able to create infrastructure at the site," PS Dubey, chairman, state pollution board, said.

"We want permission for onsite disposal as it will take two years for hazardous waste disposal infrastructure to come up. We also want the panel looking at the tender process to have representatives from the hazardous waste-generating firms and the CII. But, the government should play a lead role for industries can only invest, they do not have the expertise or decision-making powers," he said.