BHOPAL: On January 6, the Madhya Pradesh High Court granted six weeks to the state government to act on the disposal of Union Carbide factory’s waste in Pithampur industrial town in Dhar district in compliance with the December 3, 2024 order.
On December 3, 2024, while hearing a 2004 petition seeking the removal of toxic waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, the court directed the removal of the toxic waste from the Bhopal factory.
It also directed the waste to be sent to the assigned place (Pithampur) within four weeks for safe disposal.
40 years after the killer gas leak at Union Carbide’s pesticide plant that killed thousands in Bhopal, the 358 tonnes of waste lying at the now defunct factory was transported out of Bhopal on January 1, 2025 night.
It reached the TSDF facility in Pithampur (around 240 km away) on January 2 early morning based on the HC’s directions.
While the waste was safely transported from Bhopal to the TSDF in Pithampur town of west MP’s Dhar district, massive protests erupted in Pithampur.
It included an attempted self-immolation by two men against the planned disposal process.
Owing to the protests and public concerns, the waste is yet to be unloaded out of the special containers at the TSDF.
“The state government in its affidavit before the Court has stated about the huge public outcry based on certain fictitious media reports, which paint a picture that another industrial disaster would take place if the waste is unloaded and disposed off at the TSDF in Pithampur, leading to severe environmental implications,” the HC’s division bench comprising Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain mentioned in its order on Monday.
The state has prayed to this court that the exercise of infusing public confidence and dispelling myths pertaining to waste unloading and disposal will take some time.
"It has been assured to the Court that the state will perform its duties and obligations. It has also been assured that it will take the people of Pithampur into confidence," the court mentioned in its Monday order.
“The state has requested the court for permission to unload the material (waste) from trailers/trucks. On December 3, 2024, this court directed to take the waste material from Bhopal and dispose it off as per norms, thus no further order is required to be passed to unload the waste material (in the Pithampur TSDF)," the court also mentioned.
The HC directed the print and electronic media not to publish fake news in the matter pertaining to waste material disposal.
Further, it also asked the former students of MGM Medical College in Indore (who have filed a PIL against the planned incineration of the waste at Pithampur) and others who have also filed intervention applications to represent their concerns to the state government.
“We’ll soon submit a detailed representation to the state government, summing up the concerns of people and experts/doctors of Pithampur town and neighbouring Indore district against the planned disposal of waste. If the state fails to act on our representation timely, we’ll inform to the HC,” the MGM Medical College Indore Alumni Association’s counsel Abhinav Dhanodkar told TNIE on Monday.
Talking to journalists about the developments in Bhopal, the Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav said, “We are committed to the compliance of the court’s order, the HC has observed that one step of its order has been complied duly by the government with transportation of the waste safely from Bhopal to Pithampur. It is scientifically only place for safely disposing of such waste."
"Our priority is now to address public concerns about further process (waste disposal), We’ve got six weeks from the Court. We’ll address public concerns and infuse public confidence about the safe and scientific disposal of the waste,” he said.
Authorities to reach out to experts for building public confidence in Pithampur and Indore
Meanwhile, authorities in the Indore region are working on reaching out to relevant experts (environmental, chemical and health) to address the concerns. Apprehensions of residents and public representatives of Pithampur town of Dhar district and adjoining Indore city will also be addressed.
The authorities also plan to engage the relevant experts in meetings with local residents and public representatives to dispel the myths and address the concerns of people of both Pithampur and Indore.
