The work to remove 377 metric tonnes of hazardous waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has got underway ahead of its planned disposal near Indore.

The development comes weeks after the Madhya Pradesh High Court chided the authorities for not taking action despite repeated directions to clear the site in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

The highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide pesticides factory on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, killing 5,479 persons and leaving more than five lakh others with health problems and long-term disabilities.

On Sunday morning, half-a-dozen GPS-enabled trucks with specially reinforced containers reached the factory site as part of the waste disposal process.

Several workers wearing special PPE kits and officials of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, environmental agencies, doctors and incineration experts were seen working at the site. Police were also deployed around the factory.

The toxic waste will be moved to an incineration site in Pithampur near Indore, around 250 km from Bhopal, sources said.

The MP High Court on December 3 set a four-week deadline to shift the toxic waste from the factory, observing that even 40 years after the gas disaster, the authorities were in a “state of inertia” that may cause “another tragedy”.

Describing it as a “sorry state of affairs”, the HC warned the government of contempt proceedings if its directive was not followed.

“The waste of Bhopal gas tragedy is a stigma which is going to disappear after 40 years. We will dispose it by sending it safely to Pithampur,” Swatantra Kumar Singh, director of the state's Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department told PTI.

He said a “green corridor” of about 250 km will be created by managing traffic to transport the waste from Bhopal to Pithampur in the shortest possible time.

Singh refused to give a specific date for the transportation of the waste and its subsequent disposal at Pithampur, but sources said in view of the HC direction, the process can start soon and the waste might reach its destination by January 3.

The official said initially some part of the waste will be burnt at the disposal unit of Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be scientifically examined to find out whether any harmful element is left in it.

“If everything is found to be fine, then the waste will be burnt to ashes within three months. Otherwise, the speed of burning will be slowed down and it might take up to nine months,” Singh said.

The smoke emitted from the incinerator will be passed through four-layer special filters so that the surrounding air is not polluted and a record of this process would be kept every moment, he said.

Once the waste is incinerated and freed from harmful elements, the ash will be covered with a two-layer strong “membrane” and buried at the “landfill” to ensure it does not come in contact with soil and water in any way, Singh said.

The waste would be destroyed by an expert team under the supervision of officials from the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board and a detailed report would be submitted to the HC, he added.

A group of locals and activists claim that after 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste was destroyed on a trial basis in Pithampur in 2015, the soil, underground water and water sources of the surrounding villages have become polluted.

However, Singh rejected the claim.

“It has been decided to destroy 337 metric tonnes of Union Carbide waste in Pithampur's waste disposal unit only after examining the report of this test of 2015 and all the objections,” he said.

“This unit has all the arrangements to dispose of the waste safely and there is nothing to worry about,” he added.

Amid reports of thewaste reaching Pithampur, having a population of about 1.75 lakh, a large number of people on Sunday took out a protest rally wearing black bands on their hands.

Led by a group named ‘Pithampur Kshetra Raksha Manch’, they held placards with slogans like “We will not let Pithampur become Bhopal” and “Save Pithampur, remove toxic waste”.

Protester Rajesh Chaudhary said, “We want the air quality of Pithampur to be re-examined by scientists before the Union Carbide factory waste is destroyed. We will also try our best to present our case in the court.” Pithampur, an industrial town about 30 km from Indore and 45 km from the district headquarters Dhar, has about 1,250 small and big units.

Goutam Kothari, president of Pithampur Industrial Organisation, said, “We are satisfied with the arrangements made for burning down the Union Carbide waste at the industrial waste disposal unit of Pithampur.

He said the waste disposal should not be made a bogey on the basis of baseless apprehensions and local people should not be scared.

But if any accident occurs in Pithampur during the waste destruction, then his organisation will launch a protest, Kothari added.

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