S i g n i s I n d i a

INDORE, India, July 9, 2010--Some 1,000 Indians, including priests and nuns, have protested a government move to dispose of toxic waste from the Bhopal gas tragedy site in their locality.

The Madhya Pradesh government, following a Supreme Court order, is to dispose of 346 tons of poisonous material from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, the state capital.

The state plans to destroy the waste in an incineration facility in the Pithampur area near Indore town, some 190 kilometers west of Bhopal, according to reports.

The waste has to be moved from Bhopal as it is still polluting water sources and the air, but “dumping it in Pithampur is not the solution,” says Divine Word Father Prasad Kuzhivelil.

The waste, which includes remnants of the pesticide factory, has been left untouched since poisonous methyl isocyanate escaped from the plant on Dec. 2-3, 1984, killing some 20,000 people.

Father Kuzhivelil is a member of Lok Maitri (friends of people), which along with several other organizations marched through Indore on July 6 in protest.

Demonstrators said the incineration facility in Pithampur is situated in a “populated area” and that bringing the waste here would “invite another tragedy.”

The facility is in the middle of four villages and near a pond catchment area, which is Indore’s main water source, said Father Kuzhivelil.

The government is ignoring the suggestions of an expert committee on the waste disposal, said Divine Word Father George Payatikat, another priest opposing the move.

He said the committee reported that the “most technically feasible and environmentally sound option” was to incinerate the waste in cement kilns. The proposed plant at Pithampur “does not have such facilities,” he said.

The state should find ways to dispose of the waste “without harming nature and people,” said Sister Suchita Kerketta, who joined the protest. (UCAN)