"Should apologise for spreading fear": Madhya Pradesh CM after Congress state chief seeks 'water test' on Union Carbide waste disposal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], February 28 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has reacted to state Congress chief Jitu Patwari's "water test" remark about Bhopal's Union Carbide factory toxic waste disposal in Pithampur, stating that the Congress leader was acting as per his understanding.
CM Yadav further held the then Congress government responsible for the tragic "Bhopal gas tragedy," stressing that Patwari should apologise and should be ashamed of attempting to spread fear among people.
"Jitu Patwari is doing his job according to his understanding. It (toxic waste of Bhopal's Union Carbide factory) was Congress's garbage. Did he forget that the Congress had spread death in Bhopal. If lakhs of people died in the Union Carbide factory gas leak, then it was due to the negligence of the administration of the then Congress government. The Congress kept spreading this disease for years (referring to toxic waste being kept at the factory site in Bhopal)," CM Yadav told reporters.
"On the one hand, they left Bhopal (referring to residents) to die and on the other hand they are trying to scare people. He should apologise and should be ashamed of," the CM added.
Earlier today, Patwari challenged Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the BJP government in the state over the disposal of Bhopal's Union Carbide factory toxic waste in Pithampur saying he would publicly apologise if cancer-causing elements are not found inside a 10-kilometre radius of the disposal site.
In a post on X, Congress chief Patwari said, "I once again challenge the Chief Minister and the entire system of the state BJP government. If there is no poison in the Union Carbide waste, then get the water tested within a 10-kilometer radius around the Ramky company. If cancer-causing elements are not found, I will publicly apologise."
"The Mohan Yadav government should remember that the way public sentiments are being ignored under the guise of the court, the future generations will have to pay a serious price for it. I am repeating again that Indore has given many MLAs, MPs and mayors to BJP, but the kind of poison BJP is giving in return, the future generations will tell," he added.
"I challenge the Chief Minister, the two ministers from Indore in the state government, the collector, and the entire government body, come with me, get the water samples tested, the situation will become clear," the Congress leader said in the post.
The administration is all set to begin incineration of Union Carbide plant toxic waste at Ramky company located in Pithampur in Dhar district of the State. Four decades after the tragic 'Bhopal gas tragedy,' a total of 337 metric tons of toxic waste materials from the Union Carbide factory site were transported to Pithampur for its safe disposal.
The Bhopal gas tragedy, considered the world's worst industrial disaster, occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, when deadly gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant, claiming thousands of lives. (ANI)