In Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh during a protest to change 337 tonnes of Union Carbide hazardous waste, two persons poured petrol on themselves and burnt themselves to death, serious conditions. The occurrence happened in the course of one of the shutdowns called by the Pithampur Bachao Samiti to protest against the waste disposal plan.
The toxic waste has its root to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which remains one of the worst Industrial disasters that occurred in India which led to the death of over 5479 people, thousands others being affected by health complications. The proposed shifting to Pithampur has again raised the spectre of threat to the environment and human health among 1,75,000 people of the town including workers of 700 factories.
The High Court of Madhya Pradesh recently expressed concern at the slow pace of the Union Carbide site cleaning process and has given a four-week deadline to remove the waste material failing which contempt action shall be initiated. This judicial order has increased tension in Pithampur.
On the Friday, the protesters marched on roads and the police had to escalate their forces in order to avert chaos. Stores and malls closed down, which the community staged a protest. Sandeep Raghuvanshi, who has been on an fast since Thursday, said that the majority of the public was against the disposal of waste.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav tried to pacify the people saying that the waste, which is a combination of mud and naphthol, was not hazardous. But they did not calm the spirits as some of the protestors resorted to drastic measure as shown by the following.
The two people who got injured were taken to Indore for treatment and are reported to be in a critical and stable condition. Sub-divisional police officer Dhar SP Manoj Singh said enforcement had been ramped up in the region to avoid more incidents.
This event shows that the issues of how to respond to the consequences of the Bhopal calamity, the issue of environmental protection, and public concerns together with the issue of addressing the victims’ needs remain relevant to this day.
