
Pollution Board issues advisory to Pithampur plant for essential works ahead of Union Carbide waste incineration
The Hindu
Madhya Pradesh High Court allows disposal of Union Carbide waste in Dhar district, following trial incineration with no adverse effects.
The Pollution Control Board (PCB) has issued an advisory to a private company for essential works at its waste disposal plant in Pithampur, where waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal is to be incinerated, an official said on Friday.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has allowed the State government to dispose of the chemical waste at the unit in Dhar district after it was told that trial incineration did not cause any adverse consequences.
"On the High Court's instructions, the waste left over from the Union Carbide factory is to be disposed of at the waste disposal plant in Pithampur. The PCB has issued an advisory to a private company operating the plant," Indore division commissioner (revenue) Deepak Singh told PTI.
According to the advisory, some essential works needed to be carried out at the Pithampur plant, and once these are completed, the process of burning the remaining waste will begin at this unit.
Singh, however, did not give details of the works but said they were expected to be completed in two weeks.
As per the high court's directive on March 27, the remaining Union Carbide waste is to be burned at a maximum rate of 270 kg per hour under the supervision of technical experts of the Central and State pollution control boards.
The state government estimates that the entire waste can be burnt in 72 days.

Four persons were killed and three others sustained injuries in a fire that broke out in a five-storey building housing several manufacturing units in Rohini Sector 5, the police said on Wednesday. Sixteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received a call about the blaze at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday. However, due to the combustible material stored in the building, including plastic and clothes, and the narrow lanes leading up to it, which prevented fire engines that ran out of water from giving way to other rescue vehicles, it took the DFS over 12 hours to douse the flames.