"Bhopal ka kachra Pithampur me nahi jalega": People protest shifting of Bhopal gas tragedy site's toxic waste to Pithampur

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 3 (ANI): A large gathering of people staged a protest at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Friday against shifting of 40-year-old toxic waste from Bhopal's Union Carbide factory site here for its disposal.
They also raised slogans "Bhopal ka kachra Pithampur me nahi jalega" (waste of Bhopal will not be disposed of in Pithampur) along with holding sign boards in their hands.

After four decades of a tragic incident, "Bhopal gas tragedy"- touted as the world's worst industrial disaster, the toxic waste materials from the Bhopal's Union Carbide factory site were transported to Pithampur for its safe disposal on the night of January 1.
The Bhopal gas tragedy had claimed the lives of several thousand people after deadly gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
The crowd of people protesting for their demand to send back the containers carrying the toxic waste from Pithampur. The group of people also blocked roads in the district to mark their protest.

Dhar Collector Priyank Mishra told ANI, "We will not let law and order be disturbed at all. All the voices are being heard and being resolved as well. We are having continuous discussions with the public and not let anyone disturb the law and order. It is not a matter for which road blockage is required. This work is being done under the monitoring of the High Court and Supreme Court so there is no need to block the road."
Several public meetings were held at the local level on this before and the work was being done in a transparent manner. Everything is being monitored. The country's best environment related institutes have detailed reports about it (disposal of waste). Monitoring of each and every gas, landfill and other things will be done, there is no question that any thing will be performed by keeping in dark, the collector said.
"I appeal to all that law and order is most important. Transparency and sensitivity are our two pillars through which we will move ahead and no activity is done by keeping people in the dark. CM Mohan Yadav also appealed to people not to hit the road and all of their voices will be heard. No waste has been incinerated yet and it will not be performed without informing the public," he added.

Additionally, Collector Mishra said that it was their responsibility to reach the people and clear the doubts they had.
"It is our responsibility to reach the people and clear the doubts they have. If anyone thinks it was a way of their expression then they exercised it. But they were convinced by us and they ended the hunger strike. We think that through this method of communication, we will be able to solve this problem. We need to tell people about the decision taken following the scientific method. This group has convinced us that we should explain it very well to them that it is happening scientifically. We will hold more discussions until we can explain it to them," the officer said.
"The priority will be to convince everyone to call off the hunger strike, free the blockade of roads and staging protests," he added.
The Collector further said, "We will keep their demands in front of the government, explain the entire things to the government and then take further decisions. We will also bring the scientific report among the people in simple terminology." (ANI)