Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In backdrop of High Court order for clean up defunct UCC plant site, Bhopal Gas Disaster victims raised their concern over lackadaisical approach of state government towards disposal of semi-buried, buried chemicals, and Solar Evaporation Ponds (SEPs) that are contaminating groundwater in the vicinity.
Following the directive of Madhya Pradesh High Court principal bench at Jabalpur, the government is now planning for speedy disposal of toxic waste.
The High Court has given one week time to the state government to chalk out a plan to dispose of waste and four weeks to clean up the UCC plant. Chemical waste from the plant is buried in 19 sites spreading in a 67 acre UCC plant, said the victims. “ 337 MT toxic waste which has to be disposed of at Pithampur is a surface-dumped chemical. But the government is silent about excavation and recovery of dumped material from the dumpsites on the main plant site, identified by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and SEPs clean up.” There are three SEPs- Pond I and II were used in normal operations, while Pond III was used for emergency purposes.
The ponds — which had a special polyethylene sheet on the bottom and all sides to prevent seepage into the soil — were used to store neutralized liquid waste from the plant. Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, said, “ UCC chemical waste is seeping into the groundwater and causing contamination. She further said that in 2018, the Supreme Court had ordered to ensure clean piped water supply for more than 1,00,000 people living in 42 communities adjoining the abandoned Union Carbide Factory.
“If the MP Government and GoI is really serious about disposal of toxic waste and stopping its spread, then the semi-buried waste in the factory and in SEPs has to be cleaned up. As long as this is not addressed Union Carbide’s waste will continue to poison people in Bhopal on a daily basis,” said the activist.
