40 years after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 337 tonnes of toxic waste lying in the defunct Union Carbide factory in the city has been packed into 12 giant trucks and shifted for disposal.
12 trucks carrying 337 tonnes of toxic waste from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, stored for 40 years, left at 9:05 p.m. for Pithampur near Indore. The waste is expected to arrive early on January 2nd, following a 250-km green corridor with heavy security.
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) January 1, 2025
📹@MehulMalpani pic.twitter.com/zU78cVRE85
On the night of Wednesday, 1 January, the hazardous waste was packed into 12 sealed containers and moved via 12 trucks. A green corridor was established from Bhopal to the Pithampur industrial area in the Dhar district, 250 km away. Around 100 people worked in 30-minute shifts to load the waste into the containers.
In December 2024, the Madhya Pradesh High Court reprimanded the state government for not clearing the waste from the Union Carbide factory site even after directions from the Supreme Court had given a 4-week deadline to shift the waste.
On December 4, 1984, the highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate gas leaked from the factory in Bhopal, killing 5479 persons and causing severe deformities and health issues in thousands of others. It is known as one of the worst industrial disasters in the world.
