Bhopal hazardous material shift: Two attempt self-immolation in Pithampur

The waste from the December 1984 disaster at the Union Carbide factory reached the industrial town's incineration facility on Thursday triggering protests led by 'Pithampur Bachao Samiti'

Two persons on Friday attempted self-immolation, adding to tensions in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, as protests against the planned disposal of 337 tonnes of hazardous waste from Bhopal’s defunct Union Carbide factory continued in the small industrial town.

 

Pithampur, located in Dhar district, 250 kilometres from Bhopal, is known as the “Detroit of India”. It has over 700 manufacturing outfits, including automobile-manufacturing units.  

 

The waste from the December 1984 disaster at the Union Carbide factory reached the industrial town’s incineration facility on Thursday, triggering protests led by the Pithampur Bachao Samiti.

 

On the night of December 2-3, 1984, the methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 people and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues in Bhopal. But legal wrangles and administrative inertia meant the waste lay in Bhopal for nearly four decades.

 

 

On December 3, on the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Madhya Pradesh High Court warned the state government authorities with contempt proceedings for not cleaning up the Union Carbide site in Bhopal despite court directives, including that of the Supreme Court. It set a four-week deadline to shift the waste, observing that even 40 years after the gas tragedy, authorities were in a “state of inertia”.

 

The 337 tonnes of waste was packed in 12 containers and the administration created a green corridor through Sehore, Dewas, and Indore for its transportation.

 

The waste reached Pithampur Waste Management Pvt Ltd, in collaboration with Re Sustainability Ltd (formerly Ramky Enviro Engineers), in Tarapur village, under the supervision of the Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department.

 

However, the safety measures and assurances from Chief Minister Mohan Yadav have failed to assuage the residents of the town, which has a population of 175,000.

 

Yadav said on Thursday the waste comprised 60 per cent mud and 40 per cent naphthol used to make pesticide methyl isocyanate (MIC) and was “not at all harmful”.

 

Officials have said the waste is in solid form and covered in sand and soil, which was packed in large PVC bags and stored for the last four decades in Bhopal without any reported cases of illnesses.

 

The Central Pollution Control Board, along with the State Pollution Control Board, has taken precaution to ensure that fumes from the furnace do not mix with the fresh air in and around Tarapur village.

 

But protests have continued for the last couple of days. On Friday, according to eyewitnesses, two men, who were part of a demonstration, poured flammable liquid on themselves and tried to ignite it, but were saved by other protesters who intervened to extinguish the flames. The men were shifted to a local hospital, and subsequently to a private facility in Indore, where doctors confirmed they are out of danger, according to a PTI report.

 

Protests, including one that saw the participation of children, continued in several parts of the town through the day amid a bandh call given by the Pithampur Bachao Samiti, with a mob marching to the industrial unit in which the waste is set to be incinerated.