More than 40 years after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in December 1984, the trial incineration of 10 tons of waste, out of the total 337 metric tons, from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal finally began around 3 pm on Friday at ‘Ramky Enviro’, a private incineration facility at Pithampur in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, under heavy police security.

It will take about 72 hours to burn the 10 tons of waste as part of the trial.

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According to experts and officials, the 10-ton waste has been packed in small bags of 9 kg each, with 4.5 kg of waste and 4.5 kg of chemicals in each bag for controlled incineration.

The incinerator heating process began around 10 pm on Thursday, as it takes about 12 hours to reach the adequate temperature of around 850 degrees Celsius for waste incineration. Around 400 litres of diesel would be required per hour to maintain the incinerator’s temperature.

According to the state government, the Union Carbide plant waste includes soil from the premises of the defunct unit, reactor residues, sevin (pesticide) residues, naphthol residues, and semi-processed residues.

Experts said that the gas, solid particles, chemicals and water that come out as residue after the incineration would be disposed of in a scientific manner. Following that, the remaining ash would be buried securely at a landfill site.

The security at the disposal site has been intensified, with 500 personnel deployed from 24 police stations, an official stated. Senior police and civic administration officials are overseeing the process.

The incineration trial run began after the Supreme Court on 27 February refused to intervene in the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s directive to transfer and dispose of the hazardous waste at the private facility in Pithampur.

According to reports, the top court passed the order after noting that a committee of experts, including the director of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the director of the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), and representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), along with officials of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB), was overseeing the transportation and disposal process of the waste.

Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain of the Madhya Pradesh High Court had on February 18 ordered that the first trial incineration of 10 tons of waste should be conducted on February 27 in accordance with safety norms, and if there is no adverse effect, then the second test should be conducted on March 4 and the third test on March 10.

The high court had directed that the reports of all three tests should be presented before it on March 27.

According to Indore Division Commissioner Deepak Singh, the incineration of 10 tons of the waste began around 3 pm on Friday, following the court’s decision.

He further explained that the plant has an automatic shutdown mechanism to halt operations if emissions exceed the prescribed safety limits.

Dhar Collector Priyank Mishra told reporters that the disposal of waste from the Union Carbide factory is being carried out as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the Central and State Pollution Control Boards following the high court’s order.

The Collector said that the incineration process is also being broadcast live outside the waste disposal plant in Pithampur.

The waste, which many claim is still hazardous and toxic, had been stored in 12 special container trucks parked inside the incineration facility for the past 57 days. It was packed in containers on 1 January and sent from Bhopal to Pithampur, about 250 km away, arriving on 2 January. The MP High Court had set a four-week deadline on 3 December 2024 to shift the toxic waste from the Bhopal factory.

Protests began in Pithampur and adjoining places soon after the news spread that the waste would be disposed of there. Protesters raised concerns over potential health risks to local residents and the possibility of soil and water contamination due to the incineration.

However, the Madhya Pradesh state government, including Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, has asserted repeatedly that the waste is no longer hazardous or toxic.

On 6 January, accepting the Madhya Pradesh government’s request seeking more time to dispose of the Bhopal gas tragedy waste at Pithampur near Indore only after clearing all doubts of the public and taking people into confidence, the MP High Court had granted six weeks to the government to do so.

According to official figures, about 5,500 people were killed and five lakh were injured in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, which occurred due to the leak of MIC (Methyl Isocyanate) gas from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.

Activists, however, claim that at least 15,000 lives were lost, with many more suffering from lifelong disabilities and long-term health issues due to exposure to the toxic gas.

The tragedy is regarded as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.