Incineration of 337 tonnes Union Carbide waste concludes at Pithampur factory in MP

INDORE: The incineration of 337 tonnes of toxic waste linked to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy has been completed at a waste disposal factory in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district in the early hours of Monday.

Four decades after the tragic incident of the ‘Bhopal gas tragedy’, a total of 337 metric tonnes of toxic waste materials from the Union Carbide factory site were shifted to Ramky company located in Pithampur for disposal on the night of January 1.

But due to fear among the public and protests staged by them, incineration of the waste was not initiated. Following the directions of the court, the management of Union Carbide’s hazardous waste started and finally incinerated.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy Waste Finally Destroyed 40 Years On

All 337 tonnes of hazardous waste from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal have now been fully incinerated at a facility in Pithampur, nearly six months after transportation, the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board has… pic.twitter.com/YfmyvnPbOD

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) June 30, 2025

Regional Officer of Pollution Control Board Indore, Srinivas Dwivedi, said, “337 tonnes of waste from Bhopal’s Union Carbide factory was received for incineration and out of which 30 tonnes were incinerated as a trial run as per the instructions of Madhya Pradesh High Court between February 27 and March 12. After that, the High Court again instructed on March 27 to dispose of the remaining waste at the rate of 270 kg per hour. Following this, we began incineration of the waste from May 5, and it concluded in the early hours of June 30. The whole waste has been disposed of.”

Speaking about the impact of incineration on the environment or causing pollution, he said that real-time monitoring was done, and everything was found within the limit.

“There is a monitoring system for pollution, and one can see through it. There are two things to observe: first, the source is examined, what is being burned, and secondly, the ambient air of the surrounding area is examined to see what its quality is. So, a real-time monitoring system was installed at the source of the chimney, which is monitored continuously, and its report is also available on the website, which is found within the limit”, he said.

Additionally, manual monitoring was also done every week from the chimney and no such harmful element was found that has been the prescribed standards set by the Indian government for incinerators. It does not fall under the category of any damage, the Pollution Control Board officer said.

“The ambient air quality of nearby villages was also examined, and it was found to be within prescribed standards of the Indian government. A real-time online monitoring system was installed there as well, which is called CAAQMS (Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station). No complaint was received in relation to pollution,” he added.

The officer also said that a separate secured landfill is being prepared for the residue of the Union Carbide waste post incineration. It is being prepared above the land and after depositing the residue, its capping will be done and a drainage system will also be built so that even rain water never gets infiltrated in it.

He further highlighted that the landfill is being built above land as if any type of leakage occurs, it will be collected properly, no kind of pollution reaches to the ground or combines with groundwater.

The Bhopal gas tragedy, considered the world’s worst industrial disaster, occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, when the deadly gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant, claiming thousands of lives. (ANI)