Bhopal: The disposal of the entire lot of 328 tons of toxic remains of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, finally, began at the incineration facility at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district late on Monday evening. The incineration of the waste began at eight pm on Monday and it may take around 55 days to completely destroy the entire lot of 328 tons of toxic waste, regional officer of Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) Srinivas Dwivedy told this newspaper on Tuesday. The development follows the successful three-phase trial run of the toxic waste disposal done in February 12- March 12. A recent directive by the Madhya Pradesh high court has set in motion the process to dispose of the toxic waste, nearly four decades after the tragic incident of the leakage of the deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) in the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal on the intervening night of December two- three, 1984, leading to death of around 5,000 people, officially. Around 344 tons of toxic waste were kept in sealed packets inside the premises of the plant after the incident, billed as the world’s worst industrial disaster. The wastes were shifted in a dozen sealed containers from Bhopal to Pithampur in January this year, for disposal. The incineration of the toxic waste is done at the rate of 270 kg per hour, according to Mr. Dwivedy. Online continuous monitoring system has been installed to monitor round-the-clock the rate of emanation of Hydrogen Chloride, Sulphur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide from the smoke coming out of the chimney of the blast furnace following incineration of the waste, sources said. Similarly, systems have been put in place at three places, Tarapur, Chirakhan, Bajrangpur, near the Pithampur facility to monitor the air quality in the area during the period of disposal of the waste. “Air quality and other environmental parameters are found to be normal 24 hours after the incineration process began”, Mr. Dwivedyu said.
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