MP: Dhar PCB office merged with Indore unit amid concern over Union Carbide waste disposal in Pithapuram

A notification in this regard was issued by the Madhya Pradesh PCB here late on Wednesday night.

The development assumes significance in the wake of the recent public unrest witnessed in the industrial town of Pithampur in Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh over the planned disposal of Union Carbide waste at the local incineration facility.

The Madhya Pradesh PCB, in its order, directed to merge its Dhar regional office with the Indore PCB office.

The Indore PCB regional officer S N Dwivedy has been given the additional charge of Dhar region, while Dhar PCB regional officer Manon Kumar Mandrai has been shifted to the state PCB headquarters here.

The shifting of 337 tons of toxic waste, stored for nearly 40 years in the premises of the abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, to Pithampur disposal facility on January two had triggered violent protests in the industrial town, in which two men had attempted self-immolation.

The stir continued for two days and normalcy was restored in Pithampur on January five when chief minister Mohan Yadav declared that the disposal of the waste would be put on hold till court issues an order in this regard.

The state government had then moved the Madhya Pradesh high court seeking time for waste disposal to create public awareness in Pithampur that it would do no harm either to the environment or the health of the local people.

The high court had granted six weeks to the state government for the purpose.

Leakage of methyl isocyanate (MIC) in the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of December two-three, 1984 had led to killing of around 15,000 people and illness to around 6,00,000 people.

Around 347 tons of toxic wastes were stored in the campus of the factory after the tragedy.

Of them, ten tons of the wastes were incinerated in Pithampur facility on trial basis in 2015.

The trial disposal of the waste had proved to be successful.