Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), January 2
Dhar Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh said on phone that the toxic waste was transported through the ‘Green Corridor’ to the Pithampur industrial area of Dhar district, 250 km from Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, around 9 pm on Wednesday night in 12 sealed container trucks. The roads along the route were completely cleared of traffic. Amid tight security, these vehicles reached the concerned factory in Pithampur at 4.30 am on Thursday morning where the waste will be sorted.
He said that the trucks were currently parked in the factory campus in Pithampur. Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department Director Swatantra Kumar Singh said yesterday, “It is about seven hours of vehicles to Pithampur industrial area of Dhar district. A ‘green corridor’ was created for the journey.”
He said that since Sunday, around 100 persons, working in 30-minute shifts, packed the garbage and loaded it into trucks. He said, “His health was constantly checked and rest was given every half hour.”
On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, a highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leak from the pesticide Union Carbide factory killed at least 5,479 people and left thousands more severely affected. , who are/were suffering from serious and long-lasting health problems.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 3 reprimanded the authorities for not cleaning the Union Carbide site in Bhopal despite the Supreme Court’s order. The High Court had given four weeks’ time to shift the garbage, after which the process has been implemented. -News-Patiala