Union Carbide's Bhopal toxic waste to be disposed off in Germany

New Delhi, June 9 (ANI): A Group of Ministers (GoM) on June 8 gave its approval to the Madhya Pradesh Government to dispose of 350 metric tonnes of Union Carbide toxic waste in Germany.

According to the decision, the government will now pay Rs 25 crore towards the cost of airlifting the waste, which will be removed within a year.

"It has been decided in today's meeting of Group of Ministers (GoM) that the state government of Madhya Pradesh and the company GIZ IS (a German agency) would sign an MoU under the guidance of Government of India," Madhya Pradesh Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Babulal Gaur told media after the meeting on June 8.

"We would present a draft in two-three weeks and there would be a detailed discussion on it and after finalising the draft, it would be presented in the Supreme Court. Based on that report, the toxic waste would be analysed and disposed off at Hamburg in Germany. The total cost would be nearly 25 crore rupees," he added.

Apart from Gaur, senior UPA Ministers Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Kumar Selja also participated in the meeting that was presided over by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Several key officials were also present in the meeting.

Chidambaram, who is heading the Group of Ministers (GoM) looking into the Bhopal gas tragedy, had earlier on June 5 met the victims.

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere from the plant of Union Carbide and the breeze carried the lethal gas to the surrounding slums.

The government says around 3,500 died because of the disaster. Activists, however, calculate that 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed. (ANI)