After 4 decades, Bhopal gets rid of toxic waste from Bhopal gas tragedy
Bhopal/IBNS: Forty years after the hazardous gas leak that occurred in 1984 and the tragedy that unfolded afterward, Bhopal has been finally able to get rid of the toxic waste.
Twelve containers of hazardous waste which consist of remnants from the Union carbide disaster are being sent to Pithampur from Bhopal in a major operation under heavy security, media reports said.
The toxic waste is being transported through a 250-kilometer-long green corridor, with a convoy of ambulances, police vehicles, and fire brigades.
Fifty police personnel from Bhopal are escorting the containers.
The Police Commissioner said the waste is being moved in keeping with the highest safety standards. An officer of the Additional Superintendent of police level is overseeing the transportation that started late on Wednesday evening.
The 337 metric tonnes of toxic waste was stored at the abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal.
It was loaded in 12 specially designed leak-proof and fire-resistant containers. Each container carries approximately 30 tonnes of waste, packed in jumbo HDPE bags to prevent chemical reactions, NDTV reported.
Ahead of the shift, the factory's 200-meter radius was sealed.
Extensive Preparations were made for the safe transportation of the waste. Around 200 workers were involved in the process, who worked in short, 30-minute shifts.
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. In what is considered the world's worst industrial disaster, over 500,000 people in the small towns around the plant were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC).
Estimates vary on the death toll, with the official number of immediate deaths being 2,259. A government affidavit in 2006 stated that the leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries. Others estimate that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas-related diseases.
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