India’s SC orders safe disposal of Bhopal toxic waste in 6 months

(August 10, 2012) India’s Supreme Court has asked the federal and the Madhya Pradesh state governments to dispose within six months the toxic waste lying in the abandoned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. A poisonous gas leaked from the tanks of the Union Carbide pesticide plant on the night between December 2-3, 1984, killing 5,295 people immediately and more than 25,000 later. It maimed thousands more for life. India’s apex court said that it is indisputable that huge toxic material is still lying in and around the factory. “Its very existence is hazardous to health. It needs to be disposed of at the earliest,” it added. The court has ordered that the disposal be strictly in a scientific manner which may cause no further damage to human health and environment in Bhopal. Since 2001, Union Carbide has become a subsidiary of the US-based Dow Chemical. The Supreme Court has also directed that a meeting of environmentalists, monitoring and advisory committee members and officials of the federal and state governments be held within one month in this regard. It said that since the management of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Trust (BMHT) has now been vested with federal health and family welfare ministry, both the governments would take steps for the dissolution of the trust that was managing the hospital. "We direct that BMHT shall stand dissolved. All concerned to take steps in accordance with law, under which it was created and/or registered," the court said.