NGOs accuse state govt of misleading HC on toxic Carbide waste incineration

Bhopal: A group of four NGOs working among the gas victims on Wednesday accused the state govt of "misinforming" the MP high court and said the department of gas relief "omitted" critical information in the affidavit presented to the high court on the release of toxic chemicals during the trial run of Carbide waste incineration at Pithampur facility.

Govt has all along maintained that the pollution data was captured with transparency, and there were no worrying spikes in the trial run. It has constantly allayed concerns around health and environment and said all parameters are within safe limits.

However, activists allege that the govt obtained green signal for incineration of Carbide waste by making "false representations" before the court.

Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti (BGPSSS), another NGO working among the Bhopal gas victims had made a similar accusation against the state govt at a press conference recently.

In the press conference on Wednesday, Bano Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh said "The Madhya Pradesh high court's green light to continue with incineration of Union Carbide's hazardous waste was obtained falsely. Expert opinion on the 300-page report on the trial incinerations makes it clear that the high court was deliberately kept unaware of the leakage of anywhere between 5 to 20 kilograms of metallic mercury during the trial runs. As we know exposure to mercury damages the brain and it is so poisonous that according to the WHO there are no safe limits of exposure to mercury."

Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said "Prof Asif Qureshi from IIT Hyderabad carried out a simple exercise of mass balance for mercury on the basis of the information provided in the report and found that the incineration of 10 tonnes of hazardous waste caused the emission of 1.53 to 6.88 kgs of mercury. It is shocking that authorities have not included this information in the affidavit he submitted to the high court."

Balkrishna Namdeo, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha, said: "As Prof Qureshi has pointed out, well over 40 to 200 kg of mercury will be released due to the incineration of the 300 tonnes of Union Carbide's hazardous waste. This toxic disaster of unprecedented scale has already begun in Pithampur..."

President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Nawab Khan said, "We have written to the Union minister of environment calling for an end to the ongoing disaster in Pithampur. This can be done by making Union Carbide's owner Dow Chemical carry the hazardous waste to the US for safe disposal as had been done for the mercury waste from Kodaikanal in Tamilnadu in 2003. We are yet to know whether the minister will indeed take any steps but hope the high court will realise how it has been conned by the state government in allowing the incineration of Union Carbide's hazardous waste to proceed at Pithampur."

Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti (BGPSSS), another NGO working among the Bhopal gas victims had made a similar accusation against the state govt at a press conference recently.