MP HC allows ’trial run’ of Union Carbide waste disposal at Pithampur facility

A waste disposal facility at Pithampur is seen where a huge quantity of waste from Bhopal’s Union Carbide factory has been brought for disposal, in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday (February 18, 2025) allowed the state government to carry out a trial run of the disposal of 40-year-old chemical waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in Pithampur area of Dhar district.

The incineration on a trial basis will be carried out in three phases from February 27, said Advocate General Prashant Singh.

The government on Tuesday (February 18, 2025) filed a compliance report sought by the court in January about the steps taken for creating public awareness about the waste disposal process, he said.

Locals in Pithampur are fiercely opposed to the planned disposal, in their region, of the waste linked to the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy which killed more than 5,000 people.

After carrying out an awareness campaign, a trial run of the disposal should be allowed, the government requested the court.

The trial run will be carried out in three phases, with 10 tons of waste being disposed of in each phase, Mr. Singh said.

In the first trial run, waste will be disposed of at a rate of 135 kilograms per hour. It will be accelerated to 180 kg per hour and 270 kg per hour in the second and third phases, he said.

As per the HC’s directions, the first trial run will take place on February 27, the second on March 4, followed by the third on a date yet unspecified, the advocate general added.

Results of the trial runs will be submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board, which will then prescribe the `feed rate’ at which disposal of the remaining waste should be carried out, he said.

A total of 337 tons of hazardous waste from Union Carbide factory has arrived at the Pithampur disposal plant.

A compliance report will be submitted to the court on March 27.