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Hindustan Times
16 hours ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
SC refuses to interfere with Bhopal gas waste incineration
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant an urgent hearing against an order passed by the Madhya Pradesh high court directing incineration of the toxic chemical waste from the Bhopal gas tragedy site at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, observing that a long time has already elapsed 'fighting' to dispose the waste and the same is being done under supervision of experts. The court was dealing with an urgent plea mentioning made by a MP-based social activist challenging a March 27 order passed by the MP high court giving 72 days for the state government to incinerate the chemical waste from the erstwhile Union Carbide factory at the incineration plant in Dhar district. The activist told the court that since the 72-day period will expire by June 8, the lawyer for the activist sought urgent listing of the matter. Also Read: MP HC approves trial run before final disposal of Union Carbide waste at Pithampur A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma, sitting during the partial court working days, said, 'For how many years, we are fighting to get this waste removed but for all these years, these so-called NGOs and social activists... The high court is monitoring the matter, and under the supervision of experts, it (incineration) is being done.' As the activist insisted that the issue concerns public health and needs urgent intervention apprehension adverse consequences, the court said, 'You made this prayer before the MP high court. It was not entertained. Then you approached this court, it was not entertained. Now you want a stay in the vacation. Very sorry. We will not entertain this.' The toxic waste has been lying abandoned in the defunct Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) factory for the past 40 years, following the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) on the night of December 2-3, 1984, which killed 5,295 people, according to official figures. Activists, however, later estimated that at least 15,000 lives were lost, with many more suffering from long-term health issues due to exposure to toxic gas. The HC order came on a petition filed by one late Alok Pratap Singh seeking disposal of waste from UCIL factory. The HC was informed by state that the waste will be incinerated in small quantities under supervision of experts in three phases. The HC had recorded the submission of the state government that the incineration will commence within a week and be completed in 72 days. It was in December 2024 that the MP high court approved trial runs for incineration of UCIL waste at Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF), Pithampur and the state had started unloading the 337 tonnes of toxic waste in Pithampur on February 13. Since then, objections have been raised by local NGOs and individuals apprehending that the disposal will affect people's health and the environment. Some activists approached the high court. Deciding one such objection on February 27, the top court bench headed by justice Bhushan R Gavai (as he then was) had brushed aside public safety concerns over the incineration of waste at Pithampur and noted that a committee of experts, including the director of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the director of the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), and representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), was overseeing the transportation and disposal of 337 metric tonnes of toxic waste from the UCIL site. The top court had additionally instructed the Madhya Pradesh government to outline the safety measures being implemented to prevent harm to the local population. The top court was dealing with a petition filed by Chinmay Mishra, one Indore resident who claimed that the life and health of residents of nearby villages to Pithampur were at extreme risk. The city of Indore is 30 kms away from Pithampur and the Gambhir River flows besides the facility and caters waters to Yashwant Sagar Dam, which supplies drinking water of 40 % of the Indore population, the petition by Mishra had pointed out.
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
This council spent millions on a beach. Just don't bring your cossie
Manicured gardens give way to gleaming sand, as the water sloshes gently against weathered stone blocks. You could be at Lake Como – or Barangaroo's Marrinawi Cove. You might even be tempted to take a dip. An angry red warning brings you to your senses: 'This is not a designated swim site,' it reads. 'Use of this facility may be hazardous.' But McIlwaine Park in Rhodes – part of a project to make the Parramatta River swimmable by 2025 at a cost of $8.7 million – won't be hosting bathers any time soon. Nicole Xiang, 44, regularly brings her children to the park. They enjoy the new playground and picnic shelters from an additional $1.6 million upgrade this year, but she remains unconvinced by the foreshore. 'I wouldn't call it a beach. I think it's more like a large sandpit. We hardly use it,' she says. She has no illusions about going for a swim in the suburb where Union Carbide manufactured Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. 'You just don't know what's what in the water.' Loading The authorities do: although McIlwaine Park was identified as a possible swim site in 2018, testing later deemed it unsafe. Canada Bay Council, with state funding, went ahead with the beach, which is separated from the water by a sandstone seawall. Visitors are encouraged to wade in tidal rock pools at the water's edge, though Xiang says she remains wary.
The Age
19-05-2025
- General
- The Age
This council spent millions on a beach. Just don't bring your cossie
Manicured gardens give way to gleaming sand, as the water sloshes gently against weathered stone blocks. You could be at Lake Como – or Barangaroo's Marrinawi Cove. You might even be tempted to take a dip. An angry red warning brings you to your senses: 'This is not a designated swim site,' it reads. 'Use of this facility may be hazardous.' But McIlwaine Park in Rhodes – part of a project to make the Parramatta River swimmable by 2025 at a cost of $8.7 million – won't be hosting bathers any time soon. Nicole Xiang, 44, regularly brings her children to the park. They enjoy the new playground and picnic shelters from an additional $1.6 million upgrade this year, but she remains unconvinced by the foreshore. 'I wouldn't call it a beach. I think it's more like a large sandpit. We hardly use it,' she says. She has no illusions about going for a swim in the suburb where Union Carbide manufactured Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. 'You just don't know what's what in the water.' Loading The authorities do: although McIlwaine Park was identified as a possible swim site in 2018, testing later deemed it unsafe. Canada Bay Council, with state funding, went ahead with the beach, which is separated from the water by a sandstone seawall. Visitors are encouraged to wade in tidal rock pools at the water's edge, though Xiang says she remains wary.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
NGOs accuse state govt of misleading HC on toxic Carbide waste incineration
Bhopal: A group of four NGOs working among the gas victims on Wednesday accused the state govt of "misinforming" the MP high court and said the department of gas relief "omitted" critical information in the affidavit presented to the high court on the release of toxic chemicals during the trial run of Carbide waste incineration at Pithampur has all along maintained that the pollution data was captured with transparency, and there were no worrying spikes in the trial run. It has constantly allayed concerns around health and environment and said all parameters are within safe activists allege that the govt obtained green signal for incineration of Carbide waste by making "false representations" before the Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti (BGPSSS), another NGO working among the Bhopal gas victims had made a similar accusation against the state govt at a press conference the press conference on Wednesday, Bano Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh said "The Madhya Pradesh high court's green light to continue with incineration of Union Carbide's hazardous waste was obtained falsely. Expert opinion on the 300-page report on the trial incinerations makes it clear that the high court was deliberately kept unaware of the leakage of anywhere between 5 to 20 kilograms of metallic mercury during the trial runs. As we know exposure to mercury damages the brain and it is so poisonous that according to the WHO there are no safe limits of exposure to mercury."Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said "Prof Asif Qureshi from IIT Hyderabad carried out a simple exercise of mass balance for mercury on the basis of the information provided in the report and found that the incineration of 10 tonnes of hazardous waste caused the emission of 1.53 to 6.88 kgs of mercury. It is shocking that authorities have not included this information in the affidavit he submitted to the high court."Balkrishna Namdeo, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha, said: "As Prof Qureshi has pointed out, well over 40 to 200 kg of mercury will be released due to the incineration of the 300 tonnes of Union Carbide's hazardous waste. This toxic disaster of unprecedented scale has already begun in Pithampur..."President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Nawab Khan said, "We have written to the Union minister of environment calling for an end to the ongoing disaster in Pithampur. This can be done by making Union Carbide's owner Dow Chemical carry the hazardous waste to the US for safe disposal as had been done for the mercury waste from Kodaikanal in Tamilnadu in 2003. We are yet to know whether the minister will indeed take any steps but hope the high court will realise how it has been conned by the state government in allowing the incineration of Union Carbide's hazardous waste to proceed at Pithampur."Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti (BGPSSS), another NGO working among the Bhopal gas victims had made a similar accusation against the state govt at a press conference recently.
The Hindu
06-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Union Carbide waste disposal: Incineration starts at Pithampur plant
The incineration of 307 tonnes of waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has begun in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district and is expected to be completed in 55 days, an official said on Tuesday (May 6, 2025). The incineration process began around 7.45 pm on Monday at a disposal plant run by a private company in Pithampur, about 250 km from Bhopal, State Pollution Control Board's regional officer Srinivas Dwivedi told PTI. He said as per the MP High Court's directive on March 27, the waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory is being burnt at the maximum rate of 270 kg per hour under the supervision of technical experts of the central and the state pollution control boards. "We estimate that the entire waste of Union Carbide will be burnt to ashes in the next 50 to 55 days," Mr. Dwivedi said. He said the emission of different gases and particles from the plant was being monitored through an online system. The emission of particulate matter, hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, total organic carbon, hydrogen fluoride and nitrogen oxide is being monitored through this system, he said. He added that the ambient air quality in the surrounding areas is also being checked. Mr. Dwivedi said, "In the final stage of burning the waste, mercury emissions are being monitored for the first time online by installing a new sensor in the Pithampur plant." All the emissions are within the standard limits, he said. He said that automatic machines were arranged to mix and weigh the waste in the prescribed quantity before putting it in the incinerator of this plant. After burning all the garbage, the remaining ash will be disposed of safely so that it does not harm the environment, the official said. As per the High Court's direction, the government has to present a status report on June 30 regarding waste disposal. On January 2 this year, 337 tonnes of waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal was transported to the Pithampur plant. A total of 30 tonnes of waste was incinerated at the plant in three tests. After this, the State Government told the High Court, citing the analysis report stating that during the three tests conducted at the rates of 135, 180 and 270 kg per hour respectively, the emissions were found to be within the prescribed standards. According to the State Government, the waste from the Union Carbide factory includes soil from the premises of this closed unit, reactor residue, Sevin (pesticide) residue, naphthal residue and "semi-processed" residue. The State Pollution Control Board has stated that according to scientific evidence, the effect of Sevin and naphthal chemicals in this waste has now become "almost negligible". According to the board, there is no existence of methyl isocyanate gas in this waste, and there are no radioactive particles of any kind. On the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. At least 5,479 people were killed, and thousands were crippled. It is counted among the biggest industrial disasters in the world.
