The PIL, filed by a group of doctors including Dr. Sanjay Londhe, president of the Alumni Association of Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, and oncologists Dr. S.S. Nair and Dr. Vineeta Kothari, argued that the disposal posed serious environmental and health risks.
Indore, Dec 30: A PIL was filed in the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday(30th Dec), seeking an urgent stay on the planned disposal of 337 metric tonnes of toxic waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. The waste was slated for disposal at a private facility in Pithampur, Dhar district, about 30 kilometers away.
The PIL, filed by a group of doctors including Dr. Sanjay Londhe, president of the Alumni Association of Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, and oncologists Dr. S.S. Nair and Dr. Vineeta Kothari, argued that the disposal posed serious environmental and health risks.
The petitioners emphasized that local residents and authorities in Pithampur and Indore were not consulted, and raised concerns about the lack of a proper government hospital in the Pithampur industrial area, which houses 1,250 factories.
The petitioners’ counsel, Abhinav P. Dhanodkar, stated that although the PIL is tentatively scheduled for hearing on January 9, they have requested the High Court to constitute a special bench for an immediate hearing. The PIL highlighted findings from medical experts and researchers indicating that the disposal could increase cancer risk and respiratory issues in the region.
The toxic waste stems from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, where a leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide factory caused 5,479 deaths and affected over 500,000 people, marking it as the world’s worst industrial disaster.
The plea also criticized the state government for inadequate preparations and urged the formation of a judicial committee, chaired by a sitting High Court judge, to evaluate the potential impact of the waste disposal on the environment and public health. It called for an immediate halt to the disposal plan at Pithampur.
