The Enduring Legacy

The Tale of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Waste Disposal after 40 Years

- Stuti Upadhyay

While the immediate devastation of the gas leak on December 2, 1984, was horrific, the true fury of the Bhopal tragedy unfolded in the years that followed. It wasn't just the toxic gas that claimed lives, but the slow poison that seeped into the earth, contaminating the community's foundation. The aftermath proved worse than anticipated. Union Carbide's hazardous waste caused lingering environmental damage, worsening the health crisis. For years, the government ignored to remove the toxic waste, allowing it to poison the soil and groundwater. This led to a silent epidemic, with rising cancer rates, birth defects, and entire generations affected by the toxins. Long years of vicious conflict, battle and outrage came to a whistling end on January 2,2025, when 337 tonnes of methyl isocyanate waste was ultimately sent for incineration to Pithampur. In this article, Stuti Upadhyay tries to find answer to the question: Why did it take 40 years for any meaningful action to be taken to address the waste left behind by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy?

December 2, 1984, it was in the middle of the night when the city of lakes-Bhopal-experienced a devastating nightmare. A deadly cloud of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide Factory located at a distance of 1 km from Bhopal Railway Station. Long years of vicious conflict, battle and outrage came to a whistling end on January 2, 2025, when 337 tonnes of MIC waste was ultimately sent for incineration to Pithampur. The final chapter of disposal took almost 40 years demarking its epilogue at Pithampur Waste Management Pvt. Limited, just 230 kilometres away from Bhopal city.