BHOPAL/JABALPUR: Madhya Pradesh High Court On Monday he gave the state government six weeks to dispose of Union Carbide waste under safety protocols and banned the media from reporting “incorrect news” on the issue.
The state government, in its compliance report, had referred to resentment among citizens of Pithampur over the disposal of carbide waste at a plant in the industrial township and asked for six months to make people trust and let them know that the chemical waste disposal was free of damage. .
The State requested three days to unload the 337 metric tons of waste, transported in 12 sealed containers. The division bench comprising Chief Justice SK Kait and Justice Vivek Jain said it was the prerogative of the state to act on the matter and ensure safe disposal of waste.
HC also asked the government to take into account the points raised by the Alumni Association of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Indore, and some other groups in their intervention petition opposing the disposal of carbide waste at the Pithampur facility .
The doctors’ intervention petition states that Carbide’s waste incineration trial in Pithampur was carried out in 2015 and waste is now being disposed of based on results from eight years ago. No trial of disposal of waste transported to Pithampur has been carried out so far. Following public apprehensions, a test should be carried out again, they say.
The government attributed public resentment in Pithampur to “misleading” media reports about the environmental impact of waste disposal. The HC said the media should refrain from publishing or showing “unverified or false” news on the matter. The next hearing is set for February 18.