Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh High Court (HC) on Monday granted six weeks to the state government to dispose of the Union Carbide waste, left over from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, adhering to the safety guidelines. The court’s directive comes in response to a plea by the state government seeking time to engage with the local people in Pithampur, Dhar district, in Madhya Pradesh to allay their fears triggered by the ‘misinformation’ regarding the waste disposal, which led to unrest in the area. A division bench comprising Chief Justice S K Kait and Justice Vivek Jain granted six weeks to the state government to dispose of the waste and also instructed the print, audio and visual media to refrain from circulating incorrect information on the matter. Around 337 tons of toxic wastes, sealed in 12 containers, were shifted from the defunct Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal to Pithampur, nearly 250 km away, on January two for their disposal in the incineration facility there. The arrival of the waste in Pithampur caused serious anxiety among the local people in the industrial town, leading chief minister Mohan Yadav to declare to put on hold the process of disposal till the court’s order. The state government also made a plea to the court seeking three days to unload the waste from the sealed containers for their safekeeping in the Pithampur disposal facility. The court has held that it is the state government’s prerogative (to take a decision on the matter), provided they followed the safety guidelines. Chief minister Mohan Yadav hailed the HC directive granting six weeks for disposal of waste saying that the state government has placed its view on the matter before the court. The leakage of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) in the abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December two-three, 1984 led to killing of around 15,000 people and illness to around 6,00,000 others.
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