Raju Kumar
Even after the three decades of disastrous gas tragedy, neither the State Government nor the central governments have the answer to the question of safe disposal of the chemical waste of union carbide. Victims who were demanding for conviction of the culprits are still forced to live with the hazardous impact of chemical waste. Various research by Government and non Government agencies have proved that the dumped industrial waste have polluted the soil and underground water of the area around the plant. Faulty assurances were given to the victims in the name of its disposal. Children in the area are aware of solar evaporation pond made to dump the waste of Union Carbide but they are ignorant that it is hazardous to them. Though immediate impacts of coming in contact with the soil are not visible but it is capable of acting as a soil poison. The waste is so dangerous that it had already polluted the underground water in the 5 kms of range.
The various organizations working for the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy were endlessly demanding for immediate disposal of chemical waste dumped in the Union Carbide campus and surrounding area. Within 30 years, the diameter of affected underground water and soil has increased from 3 kms to 5 kms; previously the underground water in 14 hamlets was considered polluted but now the underground water in 22 hamlets are not consumable. Mr. Abdul Jabbar, Conveyor, Bhopal Gas Pidit Mahila Udyog Sangathan remarked that it is a black spot to the Sanitation mission of the Government of India. The Government should be ashamed that it is proclaiming the sanitation and hygiene mission but is not concerned for the disposal of chemical waste which is affecting our soil and water. Government is not interested to talk about the hazardous waste dumped in the solar evaporation pond, which is very huge in size, about 18 thousand metric tonnes. The pollution caused by the waste got jumbled in the environment and in the food cycle of the resident in surrounding area. If immediate steps were not taken for its disposal, it will soon result into a new tragedy for the victims.
In 2012, Indian Institute of Toxicological Research, Lucknow had studief the sample of underground water in area surrounding Union Carbide. The study reveals that underground water in the 5 kms is already polluted and the underground water in 22 hamlets in Bhopal is not consumable for drinking purpose. The report submitted to the Supreme Court has stamped the claims of the organizations working on the issue. The Supreme Court has also asserted for the immediate disposal of the chemical waste and Bhopal should not suffer from any further harmful impact on its environment and the health of the people. But it doesn’t seems that government is taking any serious steps to the response of the Supreme Court. And it is worth mentioning that the soil and underground water in the region has been tested for more than 15 times since 1989 by various government and non Government agencies.
In 1993-95, the contractor named Qamar Saeed had been given the contract for the disposal of chemical waste. But he had just packed about 390 tonnes of chemical waste from the dumping points around the factory. After that nobody is concerned to pack the hazardous waste in the solar evaporation pond and surrounding area of Union Carbide. With the passage of time, the plastics in which waste was packed tore off and waste started affecting underground water and as a result waste percolated deeper covering a large area. Although the mountains of chemical waste are still lying at the sites but the government is not accepting it as chemical waste and is conversing only about the disposal of 346 tonnes of waste dumped in sheds. About 40 tonnes of waste was burnt in Pithampur which had a negative impact on its environment, which was opposed by the local residents, so Government had to revert back from its action.
The Government is stressed with the disposal of only packed chemical waste. First of all, it was decided to dispose it off in Omkareshwar in Gujarat, then in Pithampur of Madhya Pradesh and now it is planning that waste should be incinerated at the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) facility near Nagpur but could not take it up due to the opposition of the local people. In 2012, a German firm later proposed to dispose of the waste in Germany, but backtracked following protests by NGOs in the European country. Even after three decades, the government is not serious for the disposal of the chemical waste and fixing the accountability of Dow Chemical for bearing the cost of its safe disposal. In such a situation, the sufferers of disastrous Bhopal gas tragedy can expect little justice to their pain and agony. (IPA)
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