Self immolation attempt in protest against transfer of waste of UCC from Bhopal factory to Pithampur amid fear of repeat of Bhopal disaster

Self immolation attempt has been made in protest against transfer of toxic waste of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)' Bhopal factory to Pithampur near Indore, Madhya Pradesh (MP) fearing repeat of Bhopal disaster. Notably, 12 trucks carrying 337 tonnes of toxic waste out of over over 12 lakh metric tonnes from the UCC factory stored for 40 years left for Pithampur near Indore under heavy security reached there on January 2, 2025 amid bitter protest. Former employees of the UCC's plant have shared the list of toxic substances in the factory premises. These include: 1 Ortho dichlorobenzene, 2 Carbon tetrachloride, 3 Chloroform, 4 Methyl Chloride, 5 Methanol, 6 Mercury, 7 Sevin, 8 Alpha Naphthol etc. UCC's chemical plant dealt with a multitude of organic compounds to manufacture the pesticide carbaryl (Sevin). Phosgene and Monomethyl amine (MMA) were the main raw materials involved in the process of manufacturing Methyl iso-cyanate (MIC), which in turn was used in combination with excess alpha-naphthol to produce Sevin. By-products like chloroform,carbon tetrachloride, MMA, ammonium chloride, dimethyl urea were all collected and recycled back to the process. Toxic substances stored inappropriately inside the UCC's plant site entered the soil and the ground water aquifer. The 1996 study of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad had shown the presence of Heavy metals(Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese Nickel and Zinc) in wastes dumped within the factory. Naphthol and other volatile organic matter were also detected in the same waste. Leaching from these wastes was not ruled out.
 

The history of the incineration technology which Ramky company is using for incinerating the UCC's hazardous waste does not inspire confidence. It had proposed a hazardous waste incineration plant in the river bed of Sone river in Koilwar, Bhojpur, Bihar, which has been stopped because of resistance from villagers. Notably, Sone river originates near Amarkantak plateau in MP and debouches in the river Ganga near Patna, Bihar. 

 

A incineration technology based ‘proposed 3,000 tonnes of untreated waste to Energy Project (30 MW)" of  Jindal Urban Waste Management (Bawana) Limited to burn  generated daily faced bitter protest in Bawana, Delhi during  the public hearing on December 27, 2024. Significantly, a probe by New York Times (NYT) disclosed that heavy metal concentration at Jindal's waste-to-energy plant in Okhla, Delhi was up to 19 times higher than the guidelines of US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA). It had tested air and soil samples from the site of the Chinese incineration/boiler technology based factory. The hazardous substances which were detected diseases like Parkinson’s disease, fetal problems, brain developmental disorders and bone, kidney and heart disease. Notably, internal government reports have recorded the plant pumped as much as 10 times the legally permissible amount of dioxins which was used as Agent Orange, a chemical weapon by the U.S. military against Vietnam. Now both US and Vietnam are doing joint study because US soldiers were also exposed to Dioxins while dumping it on the people of Vietnam. NYT had collected about 150 air and soil samples over a five-year period, from 2019 through 2023 and worked with scientists at Johns Hopkins University, who analyze the samples and drew the inference.

This development is a corroboration of Wikileaks disclosure of Kissinger Cables which revealed how Government of India bowed to US government's pressure to serve the interests of UCC and Dow Chemical Company in Bhopal. Initially, Indian government had demanded a compensation of $ 3 billion from UCC but abruptly agreed to the settlement with $ 470 million. 

The movement of these trucks appear to be linked to similar pressure in the aftermath of the historic 10th session of negotiations for a UN treaty to hold transnational corporations (TNCs) accountable for their human rights violations (Binding Treaty) concluded on December 20, 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. 

On behalf of "TNC Lobby”, the representative of the International Organization of Employers has threatened Global South governments with divestment. The negotiations focused on the proposed Binding Treaty’s ability to hold TNCs liable throughout their value chains and make them subordinate to people's will.

The High Court's order must be read with Supreme Court's order dated May 4, 1989 which reads: “We should make it clear if any material is placed before this court from which a reasonable inference is possible that the Union Carbide Corporation had, at any time earlier, offered to pay any sum higher than an out-right down payment of US $470 million, this court would straightway initiate suo motu action requiring the concerned parties to show cause why the Order dated February 14, 1989 should not be set aside and the parties relegated to their respective original positions.”  

Post settlement, a 5-judge Supreme Court's Constitution bench held on May 4, 1989 that it was informed that the figure of USD 470 million dollars was for 1,02,000 injured and 3,000 dead persons. Significantly, this figure of injured and dead came on record for the first time. 

Notably, in 2010, Indian government estimated the additional compensation amount for victims of the disaster to be over 7,800 crore rupees because the number found to be injured and dead is over 5,73,000, which is more than the estimated number on which the settlement was based. 

In a classic case of double standard, Dow has accepted the asbestos related liability of UCC and has set up a $ 2.2 billion compensation fund in the USA but it has refused to accept it's liability for the disaster, environmental health pollution, it's hazardous waste in Bhopal, India.  

This is not the first instance of double standard. The same double standards were adopted when one set of safety standards was deployed at UCC's Institute Plant in West Virginia, USA but a different set of safety standards, manuals and operating procedures at UCC’s Bhopal plant.