MP: 900 tonnes of toxic ash post-incineration of Union Carbide waste causes unease in town

Recently, high court directed the state government to find an alternative site to dispose of the ash

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INDORE: About 900 tonnes of toxic ash generated in the process of incinerating waste from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal five months ago is still lying around in Pithampur industrial hub in Madhya Pradesh, anxiety in the area mounting with each passing day.

Nearly five months ago, the toxic waste, soil and packaging material brought from the Bhopal unit, the site of the 1984 gas tragedy, was incinerated at a plant in Pithampur, an industrial town in adjoining Dhar district. The incineration of the 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, over six months after the consignment was transported from Bhopal.

‘The waste was burned in an incinerator using a scientific process, mixing lime and other materials, producing approximately 900 tonnes of ash, offi-

cials said.