MPCB won’t allow Bhopal 'waste' in Taloja

The proposal to bring 346 tonnes of hazardous waste from the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster site to a disposal facility in Taloja outside Mumbai has been opposed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). If implemented, the agency feels, it will set a precedent and Mumbai will become a dumping ground for such harmful waste.

On the night of December 2, 1984, leaking methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal killed nearly 4,000 people and injured over 500,000. The plant was sealed off after the disaster and the hazardous wastes continue to remain at the site.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has asked the MPCB whether the Industrial Waste Management Project at Taloja is a suitable site for destruction of the waste. Earlier plans to take the waste to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)’s waste disposal facility at Nagpur faced opposition as it was felt that the capacity of the plant was small and it would take years to destroy the waste.

Under the Hazardous Waste (Management and Trans-boundary) Rules of 2008, the permission of the state pollution control agency is mandatory for the transport of dangerous wastes to that state.

An MPCB official, who did not want to be named, said the first consignment of 10 tonnes is planned to be brought for destruction as a ‘pilot project’.

“We were asked by the CPCB to identity a suitable site for the disposal of the waste. We have a site in Taloja but we have refused permission as we feel that once the waste is disposed of as a pilot project, hazardous wastes will be brought from all states,” the official said, adding that the MPCB has sent a letter to the CPCB detailing its reservations against bringing the waste to Mumbai.

Plans to bring the waste to DRDO’s waste disposal facility has been opposed by groups like the Vidarbha Paryavaran Kruti Samiti and Vidarbha Industries Association. The groups had filed a public interest litigation in the Madhya Pradesh high court to oppose the plan. The MPCB, which had filed an intervention application in the case, had informed the court that the DRDO facility did not have the capacity to destroy such large quantity of waste. Gujarat too had opposed plans to take the waste to Ankleshwar.

The nature of the hazardous waste is not known. Dinkar Adhav, chief operating officer of the Taloja plant said CPCB has made inquiries about the possibility of disposing the Bhopal waste at the plant. “But we are governed by MPCB guidelines and without a No Objection Certificate from them, we cannot accept any waste. We are also responsible for the protection of the environment,” said Adhav.