Struggles emerge over toxic ash disposal

Nearly two months back, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed the state government to find an alternative site to dispose of the ash saying its disposal near human habitation is ‘unacceptable’

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Nearly five months after the toxic waste, soil and packaging material linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy was incinerated at a plant in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh, around 900 tonnes of ash generated in the process is still lying without disposal.

The incineration of entire 358 tonnes of matter -- 337 tonnes of toxic waste, 19 tonnes of contaminated soil and 2.2 tonnes of packaging material -- from the defunct Union Carbide factory had concluded in the beginning of July this year, over six months after the consignment was brought to the unit from Bhopal.

The waste was burned in an incinerator using a scientific process, mixing lime and other materials, producing approximately 900 tonnes of ash, officials said.

They said the state government had planned to bury the generated ash in a landfill cell under construction on the premises of the Pithampur plant, located near Tarpura, a village with a population of about 20,000, in Dhar district.

However, nearly two months back, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed the state government to find an alternative site to dispose of the ash saying its disposal near human habitation is “unacceptable”.

According to officials, the ash is currently safely stored in the plant’s leak-proof storage shed.