Indian authorities have removed hundreds of tons of toxic waste from an Indian chemical plant that witnessed one of the world’s deadliest gas leaks 40 years ago.
Last December, the court set a four-week deadline for waste disposal.
On Wednesday, about 337 tons of toxic waste was moved to an incinerator about 230 kilometers (143 miles) from the Union Carbide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal.
It takes 3 to 9 months to process and dispose of the waste.
thousands of people dying After inhaling toxic gas that leaked from the factory in December 1984.
Since then, toxic substances have accumulated in the mothball factory, contaminating groundwater in the surrounding area.
The toxic waste removed from the plant this week contained five types of hazardous substances, including pesticide residues and “forever chemicals” left over from manufacturing. These chemicals are so named because they retain their toxic properties indefinitely.
Over decades, these chemicals from abandoned factory sites slowly seeped into the surrounding environment, posing ongoing health risks to people living in nearby areas.
A 2018 study by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research found that high concentrations of metals and chemicals had contaminated groundwater in 42 residential areas near the plant.
After decades of inaction, the Madhya Pradesh state high court on December 3 set a four-week deadline for authorities to dispose of toxic waste at the site.
The court said authorities “remain helpless even after 40 years.”
The process of moving the waste began on Sunday when officials began packaging it into leak-proof bags. The bags were loaded into 12 sealed trucks on Wednesday.
Officials said the waste was transported under tight security.
The Indian Express newspaper reported that there was a police escort, ambulance, fire brigade and convoy of trucks carrying waste and a quick response team.
Swatantra Kumar Singh, head of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, told news agency PTI that initially some waste would be burned at a disposal facility in Pithampur and the residue would be tested for toxic debris.
He said special measures had been taken to ensure that smoke from the incinerator or remaining ash did not pollute the air and water.
But activists and residents living near the dump site have opposed the move.
They said that in 2015, a small amount of waste from the carbide plant was disposed of on a trial basis at the plant, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.
As a result, the soil, groundwater, and fresh water of nearby villages are said to have been contaminated.
However, Mr. Shin denied these claims.
He said incinerating the toxic waste would not have “any negative impact” on nearby villages.
Over the years, officials made several attempts to dispose of waste generated by the Bhopal plant, but scrapped the plans in the face of resistance from activists.
In 2015, India’s Pollution Control Board said it would incinerate toxic waste in Gujarat, but the plan was canceled after protests.
The board later checked sites in the states of Hyderabad and Maharashtra but faced similar resistance.
The Bhopal gas disaster is one of the world’s largest industrial disasters.
According to government estimates, about 3,500 people died in the days after the gas leak occurred, and more than 15,000 in the years that followed.
But activists say the death toll is much higher. Victims still suffer from the side effects of addiction today.
In 2010, an Indian court found seven former managers at the plant guilty and sentenced them to light fines and brief prison terms. But many victims and activists say justice has not yet been served given the scale of the tragedy.
Union Carbide is an American company acquired by Dow Chemicals in 1999.
