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Environment
Bhopal gas tragedy: What it took to relocate
Health Agriculture Water Waste Climate Air Africa Data Centre Video Gallery Y
toxic waste from world’s worst industrial
disaster
The relocation comes after 40 years of overdrawn legal battles and
administrative delays

Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors’ meeting held in Bhopal in November 2003 File photo: CSE

Abhilash Khandekar
Published on: 03 Jan 2025, 5:40 pm

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Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal lies just 250 kilometres from the industrial hub of
Pithampur in Dhar district. It took four decades for the hazardous and toxic waste
from the 1984 disaster at the defunct Union Carbide factory to reach the incineration
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facility, thanks to legal tangles and administrative apathy.
Health
The toxicAgriculture Water
waste, stored at theWaste
factoryClimate Air Africa
site in Bhopal’s Chola Data
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was transported to Pithampur on January 1, 2025. Under the supervision of the
Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department, the 337 metric tonnes of waste was
securely packed into 12 large containers and transported via a specially created green
corridor through Sehore, Dewas, and Indore districts.

The final destination was Tarapura village, where Pithampur Waste Management Pvt
Ltd, in collaboration with Re Sustainability Ltd (formerly Ramky Enviro Engineers), is
to incinerate the waste.

Also Read
Toxic waste leaves Bhopal gas tragedy site after 40 Bhopal
years Gas Tragedy
survivors’
The move follows a directive from the Supreme Court issued in 2014 and a recent
ultimatum by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which ordered the state government
to act within four weeks.

Ironically, Pithampur, touted as the ‘Detroit of India,’ was developed in the early 1980s
under the former Chief Minister Arjun Singh. The same Singh faced widespread
criticism in 1984 for facilitating the safe passage of Warren Anderson, the then head
of Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) and a United States citizen, out of Bhopal in the
aftermath of the catastrophic industrial disaster.

As the 12 secured truck containers rolled out of the abandoned factory late on New
Year’s Day, hundreds of residents living near the ghost factory in Bhopal expressed
relief.

Also Read
Bhopal gas disaster: No closure in 40 years
The late Alok Pratap Singh, the original petitioner who fought for decades to remove
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the chemical waste, would have likely been the happiest. He passed away a few years
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The UCIL plant had been producing pesticides until it was shut down in December
1984, following the catastrophic gas leak on the night of December 2-3, 1984. The
deadly release of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas killed thousands instantly and led to the
deaths of many more in the years that followed.

Also Read
DTE Coverage: Bhopal Gas Tragedy at 40

A legal maze
Since 1984, numerous legal cases have been filed in Indian and American courts,
ranging from compensation claims for the deceased to the disposal of the toxic waste.
Scientific reports, including those from pollution control boards, confirmed the
waste’s role in water contamination, necessitating incineration in a foolproof process
elsewhere.

The first petition for waste removal was filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in
August 2004, two decades after the disaster. Yet the sluggish legal process and
administrative delays extended the timeline to 40 years.

The High Court finally took a firm stance in December 2024, directing the state
government to shift the waste within four weeks. This marked the beginning of the
historic relocation process.

Also Read
Bhopal Gas Tragedy at 40: Initial post-disaster years
were most critical for affected population, study had
revealed last year
“Living next to the toxic waste gave us sleepless nights,” said Abid Noor Khan, a
resident of the area who lost two relatives in the 1984 disaster.
Over the years, various locations, including Ankleshwar in Gujarat, were identified for
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incinerating the waste. However, in 2007, the Gujarat government, led by then-state
HealthMinister
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Narendra Waste
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shifted back to Pithampur, where earlier protests had delayed progress.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered a trial incineration of 10 metric tonnes of waste
from UCIL at Pithampur, which proceeded without any reported environmental
damage. Official sources told Down To Earth that the remains of a Cochin pesticide
factory were also burned at the Pithampur factory prior to 2015. Both were deemed
fine by the Supreme Court.

Also Read
Bhopal Gas Tragedy at 40: Disaster extracts a painful
price from us every day, survivors tell DTE

Cautious steps ahead

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has outlined a detailed process for the
incineration of the 337 metric tonnes waste, starting with an initial 90-kilogramme
feed. This will test the furnace’s capacity to handle the toxic material at temperatures
of up to 1,200 degrees Celsius. If successful, the remaining waste will be processed
gradually.

The hazardous waste is not in liquid form, but rather solid and largely covered in sand
and soil, with no plastics present, according to a high-ranking official involved in the
process. The waste was packed in large PVC bags and stored for decades in Bhopal
without reported injuries or illnesses.

Despite this progress, opposition persists.Protests by local citizen groups and

Congress party workers in Pithampur has escalated to become a law and order
problem. Two youths tried to self-immolate near the site on Friday morning while
protesting the incineration in Pithampur.

A group of doctors also recently petitioned the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh
High Court to halt the waste transfer to Pithampur, just 30 kilometres from Indore
city. The plea is likely to be heard january 6, 2025.
Also Read
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Bhopal Gas Tragedy at 40: Not just methyl isocyanate,
other
Health unknown
Agriculture compounds
Water Waste also played
Climate Air significant role Video Gallery Y
Africa Data Centre
in long-term health impacts on survivors, 2010 ICMR
study found
Meanwhile, gas disaster-related non-governmental organisations have criticised the
Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government for failing to clean the entire 85-acre
UCIL site, which still harbours underground toxic waste. Wild vegetation now covers
much of the disused premises, where entry remains restricted.

With the first 10 kilograms of waste set to be incinerated under tight security and
CPCB supervision, the government is hopeful that the process will proceed without
incident. “A dark chapter associated with the Bhopal Gas Tragedy has been closed,”
remarked a visibly relieved Swatantra Kumar, Director of the Gas Relief Department.

The State Pollution Control Board and CPCB had been monitoring the process, and it
had been ensured that the fumes from the furnace did not mix with the fresh air
surrounding the small Tarapura village, causing new problems for the locals.

If all goes according to plan, the total 337 metric tonnes of hazardous waste will be
incinerated within four to five months, bringing Bhopal closer to healing from its toxic
legacy.

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