On the direction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, 307 tonnes of garbage of the union carbide factory of Bhopal has been settled at an waste settlement plant in Pithampur. Along with this, a total of 337 tonnes of garbage of the factory responsible for the Bhopal gas tragedy has been consumed. An official of the State Pollution Control Board gave this information on Monday.
The official said that 30 tonnes of garbage of the Union Carbide factory has already been burnt during three trials at the plant in Dhar district.
In Bhopal, on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, there was a leakage of highly poisonous methyl isocynet gas from the Union Carbide factory. At least 5,479 people were killed and thousands of people were crippled. It is counted among the largest industrial disasters in the world.
Srinivas Dwivedi, Regional Officer of the State Pollution Control Board, told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ that the process of consumed the remaining 307 tonnes of union carbide factory at the waste settlement plant run by a private company in Pithampur had started around 7.45 minutes late on May 5 (June 29) and Monday (June 29).
He said that according to the directions issued by the High Court on March 27, the remaining waste of Union Carbide was lit at a maximum rate of 270 kg per hour at Pithampur plant under the supervision of technical experts of the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board.
Dwivedi said that during this waste being consumed, the emission of individual gases and particles from the Pithampur plant was monitored in real time by an online mechanism.
He claimed, “All emissions were found within the standard limit during the burning of the waste of the union carbide factory in this plant. We have no information about any adverse effect on the health of people living in the surrounding areas during the waste consumed.
According to Dwivedi, a total of 337 tonnes of ash and other remains of the union carbide factory are being safely filled in sacks and kept in the ‘leak-proof storage shade’ of the plant.
He informed that special facilities (landfill cells) are being constructed under the scientific process fixed to bury these remains in the ground and this work is expected to be completed by November.
Dwivedi said, “If everything goes well, these remains will also be settled by December. Earlier, these remains will be treated scientifically so that they do not harm the Avo-hwa.
337 tonnes of garbage of the union carbide factory closed in Bhopal was rushed to the plant in Pithampur, about 250 km from the capital of the state on January 2.
A total of 30 tonnes of garbage was burnt during three trials at this plant. The state government was then quoted by the state government as saying that the emissions were found within the prescribed standards during the three trials conducted at the rates of 135 kg per hour, 180 kg per hour and 270 kg per hour respectively.
According to the state government, the garbage of the union carbide factory included the soil, reactor residue, sevin (pesticide) residue, nephthal residue and ‘semi -processed’ remains of the premises of this closed unit.
According to the State Pollution Control Board, according to scientific evidence, the impact of Sevin and Nephthal chemicals in this waste had already been “almost negligible”. According to the board, at present there was no existence of methyl isocyanate gas in this waste and there were no radioactive particles in it.
