Bhopal, Jan 4: After a day-long protest from citizens of Pithampur against the incineration of the chemical waste from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) factory, which was the cause of the horrific Bhopal gas tragedy, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav chaired a high-level meeting with some of his ministers and senior officials late on Friday night.
The meeting that went on in the wee hours of Saturday, was attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla, Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, state BJP chief V.D. Sharma and Dhar MLA Neena Verma.
The Chief Minister said the government will present a detail report of the Pithampur incident before the Madhya Pradesh High Court and will decide the future course of action on the chemical waste laden container trucks accordingly.
“The waste was transported in compliance with the High Court’s direction. Our government respects public sentiment and the report of the actual circumstances will be presented before the court,” the Chief Minister said.
Notably, in its previous order on December 3, 2024 the HC had given three weeks’ time to the state administration to shift the toxic waste and had sought a report on it.
“The government will submit its report to the court on January 6, untill then, the process of incineration of the chemical waste will not be done,” Yadav said. On Friday, massive protests were held in several locations in Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, around 40 km from Indore.
The protesters even clashed with the police, leading to prohibitory orders being imposed at the site. Two persons, who attempted self-immolation during the protest, sustained burn injuries and they were admitted at a hospital in Indore. The government maintained that the Pithampur plant is the only suitable site for incinerating chemical waste because it is specifically designed for this purpose.
The incineration of waste generated by industrial units across the state is being done since 2006. The container-trucks loaded with 337 tonnes of chemical waste reached Pithampur early on January 2 and remained parked at the premises of Ramki factory located in Ashapura area of Dhar district under tight security.
IANS