Disposal of 350 tonnes of toxic waste from the Union Carbide's Bhopal plant has again hit a roadblock. The Maharashtra government will not allow Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) Nagpur lab to incinerate the waste.
The Maharashtra Minister for Environment, Mr Sanjay Devtale, while participating in a discussion in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, said that under no circumstances will the waste be allowed to enter Maharashtra's boundary.
The Jabalpur High Court in its July 12 order had asked the Madhya Pradesh government to transport the waste from Bhopal plant to Nagpur. DRDO had informed the court that it has the facility to dispose of about one tonne of waste daily.
Mr Devtale said that the Maharashtra government has already filed an intervener petition in the case. “The DRDO has been given clearance by the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board but they don't have the Maharashtra government clearance. However, if DRDO still brings the waste to Nagpur, then the State government will take action against them,” he said.
Senior BJP leader and MLA from Nagpur, Mr Devendra Fadnavis, said that the waste is so toxic that even a molecule from that waste can pollute a large area of land and water. “Such waste should not enter Maharashtra. The state borders should be sealed,” he said.
Usually such toxic waste is burnt in an incinerator at 950 degrees Celsius. The poisonous gases emitted from the burnt waste is further burnt at 1,100 degrees Celsius. The residue gases are then treated with charcoal and lime and a chemical scrubbing process, after which it is released in the atmosphere.