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April 26, 2006

Govt asked to present report on toxic wastes

The Pioneer, Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Correspondent : Staff Reporter The Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked the State Government to present on May 19 the report on cleaning toxic wastes from the now-closed Union Carbide Factory premises in the State capital.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Anang Kumar Patnaik and Justice Ajit Singh gave the direction while hearing a petition by a Alok Prasad Singh.

Petitioner's counsel Naman Nagrath informed the Court that more than 20 years after the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, toxic wastes were lying in the factory premises polluting environment and poisoning ground water.

Earlier, during last hearing, the Court had directed the Madhya Pradesh State Pollution Control Board, Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and Nagpur-based Niri Sansthan to present a report regarding presence of toxic wastes in the factory premises so that assessment of cost can be made for removing the waste.

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April 22, 2006

21 years gone, no data on Bhopal waste yet

Vibha Sharma - Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 19
Even after 21 years of the Bhopal gas tragedy, one of the worst industrial disasters in the world, there is no comprehensive or scientific assessment of the exact depth or spread of tonnes of toxic wastes lying at the ill-fated Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) factory.

The only solace so far is that the Prime Minister has conceded to the demand of 1984-gas tragedy survivors and their supporters regarding the cleaning up of toxic wastes.

The activists claim that in the absence of a comprehensive study on toxic wastes and the extent to which it has been contaminating the ground water, there is no way an estimate for their containment or disposal can be worked out.

“Keeping in mind the principle of ‘polluter pays’, if there is no scientific data on the chemical composition of the toxic waste, its depth and spread, how can one arrive at a figure as to how much money to be demanded from the Dow Chemical, the parent company of the UCC, to clean up the site,” activist Nityanand Jayaraman says.

The extent to which poisonous chemicals have seeped into the groundwater near the factory is said to be anywhere between 2.5 to 3.5 km north of the factory site.

In 1984, while the wind carried the deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas towards the south, the contaminated groundwater is now heading north carrying with it poisons to those believed to be left untouched by the tragedy.

While the 1984 gas leak from the UCC plant has claimed close to 20,000 lives till date, the poison from the hazardous waste, still lying abandoned at the site, has been continuously seeping into the ground water, posing even more serious health problems for them.

Samples collected by environment groups from the soil, groundwater and vegetables have shown dangerously high levels of heavy metals, including nickel, chromium, mercury and lead, besides toxic materials like dichlorobenzines. All of these were used at the UCC plant.

Mercury and lead contamination have found their way into breast milk, creating a whole new generation of Bhopal Gas Disaster victims.

“Children are being born with congenital deformities. Last week a still-born baby in one of the colonies had a perfectly made body, but the back of her skull was missing,” says Jayaraman.

After years of legal wrangling for due compensation, survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy have now graduated from talking about compensation to demanding clean water and environmental remediation.

While a high-level team, deputed by the Centre, is meeting in Bhopal to finalise details regarding provision of safe water in affected areas in Bhopal, there has been no data-based scientific documentation as yet of the chemical composition of the toxic wastes at the site.

“Some time back, Nagpur-based National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI) conducted a few patchy studies. About three years back, Greenpeace gave a rough estimate saying that $500 million would be required for environmental remeditation in Bhopal.

Posted by bhola at 06:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2006

Tech panel to examine Carbide waste report

BHOPAL CENTRAL CHRONICLE

Staff Reporter Bhopal, April 18
At a meeting of the task force committee, constituted following a Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling regarding disposal of chemical waste present in the Union Carbide India Ltd factory premises in the state capital, on Tuesday, decided to dispatch various laboratories' reports to a technical subcommittee for examination.

The gathering, chaired by Union Secretary (Chemicals and Fertiliser) Satwant Reddy, discussed the document. The subcommittee, which included representatives of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Hyderabad-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), would submit its report soon.

Among those present were Principal Secretary (Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation) MM Upadhyaya, PS (Environment and Housing) PD Meena, Joint Secretary (Chemicals and Fertiliser) KC Mishra, Deputy Secretary Yudhveer Singh, NEERI Director Tapan Chakraborty and CPCB Assistant Director NK Verma.

Posted by bhola at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)

Task force for UC waste removal to meet today

THE PIONEER

Correspondent : Staff Reporter Eighth meeting of task force set up in compliance with the orders of the High Court in Jabalpur, for the removal of toxic wastes from the Union Carbide Plant, would be convened at Vallabh Bhawan on Tuesday in presence of Secretary of Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, Satwant Reddy.

Joint Secretary KC Mishra and Deputy Secretary Yashveer Singh along with representatives of Pollution Control Board and other government departments would also attend the meeting. However, the officials of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Relief and Rehabilitation denied visit of the team in gas affected colonies and said that the team would halt in the city for just one day to attend eight meeting of task force.

Denying the report of the team visiting the gas affected colonies during its one day stay in the state capital, Principal Secretary of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Relief and Rehabilitation Department MM Upadhyay told The Pioneer that the team consisting of Secretary of Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, Satwant Reddy, Joint Secretary KC Mishra and Deputy Secretary Yashveer Singh would visit the city to attend eight meeting of task force. Notably, some organisations fighting for the cause of gas victims have claimed that the team would also pay visit to affected colonies to inspect the situation.

SOURCE : The Pioneer, Tuesday, April 18, 2006

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