BHOPAL: Forty-three days after being transported from Bhopal, the safe containers holding more than 350 tonnes toxic waste of Union Carbide factory were finally unloaded from the trucks at the treatment-storage-disposal-facility (TSDF) in the industrial town, Pithampur in Dhar district on Thursday.
“The process of unloading the containers from the trucks took around 4 hours at the TSDF in Pithampur. Process of unloading the containers was carried out in the presence of local public representatives, media personnel and experts, including officials of the pollution control board,” a senior official said.
The members of the Pithampur Bachao Samiti, which has been spearheading the protests stood away from the TSDF, despite being invited to be present during the unloading of the containers at the facility, where the incineration of the waste is planned on the order of the MP High Court.
“Entire process of unloading the containers from the trucks which was followed by the departure of the emptied trucks has been video filmed,” the official added.
The unloading happened just a day after the Shav Satyagraha protest. The protestors laid down on the ground like corpses for 12 minutes at the TSDF in Pithampur. They have been booked for staging the protest without prior permission from the local administration-police.
Based on the report submitted by the local authorities, the state government will file its status report before the MP High Court on February 18. The status report, apart from details of the unloading of the 12 containers at the TSDF, will also include the series of dedicated Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities carried out by the government in Dhar, Pithampur and Indore, to dispel the myths prevailing among the public, about the planned incineration of the toxic waste at the Pithampur TSDF.