protests against the dumping of toxic waste

40 years after the catastrophe, which continues to affect the health of the local population, the Indian government has applied a local court order, moving the toxic waste to the industrial city of Pithampur, where it must be disposed of in the coming months. But the authorities are encountering resistance from the local population.

Bhopal () – Indian authorities have announced that they have removed the 337 tons of toxic waste that still lay in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, scene of the worst industrial catastrophe of history. But the removal of the substances, which could take up to nine months, risks causing further damage to health and the environment.

Yesterday, a convoy finished moving the toxic substances to a waste disposal plant in the industrial city of Pithampur, 230 km from Bhopal. The local population called a demonstration because they fear the consequences that the population of Bhopal is still facing, where hundreds of thousands of inhabitants suffer health problems due to contamination of soil and groundwater.

Swatantra Kumar Singh, director of the Bhopal Care and Rehabilitation Department, told Reuters news agency that the waste will be disposed of in a way that is safe for the local ecosystem. In a statement, the Indian government also said that a removal test carried out in 2015 with 10 tons of toxic substances had shown emission levels in line with national standards. Statements that local residents disagree with: according to Rachna Dhingraan activist with the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, relocating the waste would “create a slow-motion Bhopal” even at the disposal site.

«Our hearts tremble when we remember the horrible Bhopal gas tragedy. Toxic waste from the Union Carbide plant must be eliminated. However, it must be done after a thorough debate with scientists, experts and local residents, as this is a matter of public health,” said former Speaker of the House of Representatives Sumitra Mahajan, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose party Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also comes from. «The disposal of this waste is not at all a political issue. The debate should focus on whether there will be negative effects on the environment, land and water sources following the destruction of waste in Pithampur. The residents of Bhopal have been suffering the negative effects of the gas tragedy for generations. So these wastes have to be disposed of very carefully,” Mahajan added.

On the night of December 2-3, 1984, a toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate, a chemical compound used in the production of pesticides, escaped from the plant of the American company Union Carbide, immediately killing thousands of people. According to various estimates, at least another 560,000 have since suffered irreversible damage to their health. Despite numerous investigations, the company never faced a proper trial. For some of the victims, the only compensation was $500 paid by Union Carbide in 1989, out of a total of $470 million paid by the company to the Indian government under an out-of-court settlement.

Among the materials that have been removed from the contaminated site in recent days are pesticide residues and “forever chemicals,” so called because they retain their toxic properties indefinitely. Jitu Patwar, a Congress MP, a party that represents the opposition, pointed out that the incineration of toxic waste in Pithampur could generate new health problems, as well as serious damage to the environment. He also pointed out that though the Madhya Pradesh High Court had issued directions and fixed a deadline of four weeks for removal of the waste, the court order did not stipulate that all of it should be disposed of in Pithampur only. Over the years, authorities had already tried several times to move waste from the Bhopal factory, but always met with resistance from activists and local residents.

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