Toxic waste from Union Carbide to be dumped in Pithampur

The defunct Union Carbide factory has 347 metric tonnes of toxic waste which will be disposed of in the Pithampur-based Treatment Storage Disposal Facility (TSDF) in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh housing and environment minister Jayant Mallaiya said today.

The toxic waste dumped in a shade in the factory consisted of 96 MT of Sevin and Napthal residue, 30 MT Reactor residue, 56 MT semi-processed pesticides and 165 MT excavated waste, Mallaiya informed the state assembly in a written reply to a query by Congress legislator Kalpana Parulekar.

The minister said his department has not formulated any separate policy for the disposal of the toxic waste.

Though this question basically pertains to the gas relief department, the decision for moving this toxic waste to the TSDF in Pitahmpur was taken in view of the supreme court directives on the issue, he said.

Mallaiya informed that the TSDF facility was constructed at Pithampur for the disposal of hazardous waste by the State Industries Development Corporation, Ramky Enviro Engineering Limited and Pithampur Auto Cluster.

To a query on how much money was spent by the department to minimise the ill-effects of disposal of hazardous waste on human beings, the minister said that since no amount was spent by his department on the issue, the question did not arise.