The 337 tons of waste from the now defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has been incinerated, as confirmed by officials on Monday. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Director, Swatantra Kumar Singh, told national media that, “The Pollution Board officials have informed us that all the waste has been disposed as per protocol.”

The process of relocating the toxic waste from Bhopal’s Union Carbide factory took more than 40 years after the disastrous Bhopal gas tragedy. The relocation started this year on January 1, when 12 containers carrying 337 metric tons of hazardous waste were taken to a private disposal plant in Pithampur (run by a firm called Re Sustainability).

This came after the Madhya Pradesh High Court set a four-week deadline for the authorities to dispose of the waste on December 3 last year. Finally, on December 5, the High Court pulled up the state government over the lack of progress, observing that the authorities were “still in a state of inertia, despite 40 years” having gone by.

Disposal Protocol

As per the protocol, as another residue is left after burning, the waste was safely packed in sacks and stored in a leakproof shed inside the private plant. Special landfill cells are being constructed to bury the residue in the ground, which is expected to be completed by November.

“The entire disposal was carried out as per established safety standards. The emission of different gases and particles from the Pithampur plant was monitored on a real-time basis by an online mechanism, and all the emissions were found to be within the standard limits,” informed the State Pollution Control Board officer.

Protests against the disposal of toxic waste broke out in Pithampur at the beginning of the year, which also included two men attempting to self-immolate. To respond to this, the Indore district officials had assured locals in multiple meetings about the safety standards and the need to carry out the disposal due to court orders.