Four decades after the Bhopal gas tragedy, hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste remain on the premises of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). Despite multiple court orders and warnings, government authorities have not disposed of the waste safely, officials confirmed to The Hindu.
The Union government has released ₹126 crore to the Madhya Pradesh government to carry out plans to dispose of 337 MT of the toxic waste, which was collected and kept in the premises of the factory in 2005, documents show.
However, a 2010 government-commissioned study showed that, apart from this 337 MT of toxic waste, the factory premises also contains about 11 lakh tonnes of contaminated soil, one tonne of mercury, and nearly 150 tonnes of underground dumps. The government has no plans yet on how to deal with this.
Disposal yet to start
The presence of waste dumps within the premises show that the 2005 collection of waste was “incomplete”, the 2010 report noted. It had then recommended excavation of the toxic waste from the dumps in order to remediate it.
Subsequently, a ‘peer review committee’, formed in 2010 to look into different government studies till that point, recommended a comprehensive assessment. Fourteen years later, however, a proper reassessment is yet to be done.
“Though ₹126 crore was released in March this year for disposing 337 MT of waste, the state government is yet to actually begin the process of disposing it on the ground. We understand that there are some administrative issues,” a Central government official told The Hindu.
Delayed reassessment
In June 2023, an oversight committee — which met 12 years after its last meeting on May 25, 2011 – had again recommended that the Madhya Pradesh government undertake fresh studies to quantify groundwater and soil contamination and the underground dumps of toxic waste.
When asked about the rest of the waste and the reassessment, the official said, “A proposal for reassessment of the toxicity after the 2010 study was also submitted to the State government about six months back, but that has also not made much headway. The government is first trying to deal with the 337 MT of waste and then look into the rest of it.”
Another source privy to the development also said that reassessment is necessary as it has been 14 years since the 2010 study and the ground realities would have changed by now. “But there is no movement on this front as of now,” the source added.
Groundwater contamination
Over the years, various government and non-governmental studies have found groundwater in different residential areas outside the factory contaminated with heavy metals and other toxic substances, which could lead to cancer and other diseases. Now, experts say there are chances of the contamination spreading further.
On March 20 this year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up the government for its inaction. “It is a known fact that the chemical waste where it is accumulated is creating leachate and further contaminating the surface water, underground water, and in the rainy seasons, by flow to the other places and water of the river bodies are also being contaminated by this chemical waste,” it observed.
When contacted, the Madhya Pradesh government did not respond to The Hindu’s queries.
Missed warning bells
The root cause of the problem is the solid, semi-solid, liquid and tarry wastes generated during the manufacture of pesticides and associated chemicals which were dumped by UCIL between 1969 and 1984 within their factory premises, which closed down after the gas leak tragedy which occurred on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
In 2004, the Supreme Court noted, “The report (by a court-appointed committee) records that due to indiscriminate dumping of hazardous waste due to non-existent or negligent practices together with lack of enforcement by authorities, the ground water and, therefore, drinking water supplies have been affected/damaged.”
In 2005, the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) through a private company collected waste from the factory premises. A small portion was incinerated and the remaining 347 MT of waste was kept it in a shed within the factory premises.
Ten years later, in August 2015, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) incinerated around 10 MT of this waste on a trial basis at a facility in Pithampur and recommended the same for the rest of the waste.
Government ‘apathy’
In 2022, an NGT-appointed committee said there was a “possibility of contamination of soil” and suggested “speedy disposal” of the waste.
In March 2022, citing the “serious unsatisfactory” state of affairs as well as “apathy” and “failure” of the authorities concerned, the NGT ordered the State government and other agencies to take action within six months. The order was not followed.
Over the last 15 years, with activists complaining to the Supreme Court of spreading groundwater contamination, the Madhya Pradesh government has increased the number of areas around the factory where it provides safe drinking water, from 14 localities to 18 to 22 and then to 42, following court orders and studies. The government has also sealed hand pumps and tube wells to restrict residentss access to contaminated water. However, many people still use groundwater for non-drinking purposes.
New victims
Rachna Dhingra — a member of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, an NGO which is part of the Supreme Court’s Monitoring Committee on the tragedy — said that the groundwater contamination is spreading to more areas and affecting people’s health, finding new victims every day even 40 years after the gas leak.
“The government plans to dispose only 337 MT of the waste, which is only a small fraction of the total toxic waste. Unless all this waste is properly disposed of, it will continue to pollute groundwater and soil. Even the courts pulling up the authorities for their apathy and inaction is not working. The government is not at all interested in holding the polluter accountable, especially when the polluter company refuses to pay the ₹310 crore sought towards the cleanup,” Ms. Dhingra said.
Published – December 01, 2024 10:53 pm IST
