Ankleshwar activist moves MP High Court against dumping of gas waste

[ganpat1956]

Vadodara, May 7: FOLLOWING the proposed move to dump Bhopal Gas tragedy waste in Ankleshwar, an Ankleshwar-based activist Ziya Pathan filed an application in Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) member secretary Sanjeev Tyagi said that it was not confirmed yet whether the waste would land in Ankleshwar or not. “We are presently reviewing the situation, but we are in dark as to what is happening in Madhya Pradesh’’ said Tyagi.

Ziya Pathan made an intervention in writ petition No. 2802 of 2004 (Alok Pratap Singh v/s Union of India and Another) in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, expressing fears about the Bhopal Gas tragedy waste coming to Ankleshwar for incineration.


In his application to the court, he sought permission to make an intervention requesting it not to allow any further steps to be taken to shift the waste from Bhopal to Ankleshwar.

He also stated that Ankleshwar already stands identified as a critical polluted zone by the Central Pollution Control Board and as a ‘toxic hotspot’ by Gujarat.

He cited the observations of Supreme Court Monitoring Committee, which in their April 2004 report, had stated that groundwater of the area is so polluted that it is not fit to drink. It was following that report that an order was passed directing Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh Governments to supply fresh drinking water through tanks or pipes. Meanwhile, Tyagi said that the representation of environmental activists was being taken into consideration.

Incidentally, the GPCB response following protest is tad surprising, for it is GPCB only which gave the No Objection Certificate for the proposed incineration in Ankleshwar earlier.

A delegation comprising of activists from Vadodara, Ankleshwar and Suart, PUCL, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and Narmada Pradushan Nivaran Samiti has also met GPCB officials voicing their concerns. On Monday, Vadodara and Ankleshwar-based activists met GPCB officials, filing a RTI application seeking, details about the correspondence regarding waste transfer from the Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) factory to Ankleshwar.

Activist files RTI application

VADODARA-BASED environment activist Rohit Prajapati on Monday filed a RTI Act application seeking details of all correspondence regarding transfer of waste from the Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) factory to Ankleshwar for incineration. Prajapati, in his application, sought copies of all documents and correspondence regarding this matter, including correspondence between and/or documents issued by GPCB, Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Bharuch Enviro-Infrastructure Ltd, and the Government of India.

Ankleshwar activist moves MP High Court against dumping of gas waste