The disposal of hazardous waste from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy has come under the Supreme Court’s scanner following a petition about the health risk to residents of Pithampur, where it has been shifted. The petition also pointed to the risks to the people of Indore, which is just 30 km away. 

Today, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih agreed to hear a petition challenging the orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court that triggered the transfer.

The top court has sought responses from the Centre, Madhya Pradesh and its pollution control board.

Around 377 tonnes of waste from the now defunct Union Carbide factory was shifted to Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, 250 km away from Bhopal, recently.

The petition said at least four-five villages lie within the one km radius from the disposal site, saying the life and health of the residents are at “extreme risk,” the petition alleged. It also pointed out that the Gambhir river flows besides the facility and caters waters to the Yashwant Sagar Dam, which supplies drinking water of 40 per cent of Indore’s population.

It alleged the authorities have not informed the affected residents of Indore and Dhar districts about the risks or issued health advisories. 

On the night of December 2-3, 1984, highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide factory, causing one of the worst-ever industrial disasters in the world. It killed 5,479 people and maimed more than five lakh others. 

In its order in December last year, the Madhya Pradesh high court had rebuked the authorities for not clearing the Union Carbide site despite directions from the Supreme Court. It set a four-week deadline to shift the waste, observing that even 40 years after the gas tragedy, authorities were in a “state of inertia”. It had even warned the government of contempt proceedings if its directive was not followed.