'Show Us There Is No Danger': Supreme Court To MP Authorities On Disposal Of Chemical Waste From Bhopal Gas Tragedy Site At Pithampur, Indore

Pursuant to a mentioning, the Supreme Court today called on the Madhya Pradesh authorities to show based on material if there is any substance in the apprehensions shown by a litigant regarding disposal of chemical waste from Bhopal Gas Tragedy site at Pithampur, and whether the authorities have taken ample steps to allay fears of danger to citizens in the vicinity.

Unless the apprehensions raised are found to be genuine, we would not interfere, the Court said.

The matter was mentioned before a bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih, which is dealing with a petition assailing Madhya Pradesh High Court's direction for transportation and disposal of 337 metric tonnes of "hazardous" chemical waste from the Bhopal Gas Tragedy site to Pithampur.

Counsel who mentioned the case informed the Court that after issuance of notice on February 17, the MP High Court on February 18 ordered a trial run of 10 metric tonnes from February 27 onwards. In this backdrop, he requested that the matter be taken up by the Supreme Court on February 27 itself and meanwhile, an interim order be passed.

Asking the counsel to give notice to the MP Standing Counsel, the bench said that it would hear the matter as first item on February 27. When a counsel appeared on behalf of the state, Justice Gavai told him to take instructions.

"He (petitioner) says it is going to cause hazards to the citizens...we are not going to stop it unless the apprehension is found to be well-founded. You go through the petition and find out if the concern shown by them is with or without substance. And if there is some substance, as to what steps you are taking...", said the judge.

When the MP counsel sought 2 days' time to file counter-affidavit, Justice Gavai said that the state should then hold its hands insofar as the trial run of February 27 is concerned. "Suppose something happens on 27th itself...it should not be a fait accompli...or you satisfy us on 27th itself and tell us that you have taken all the precautions and nothing is likely to happen...if you satisfy us that you have taken ample care and there is no danger, [we] wont come in the way. You have to come with some material in support of that."

Notably, the bench also orally remarked that the MP High Court should have held its hands (and not passed the February 18 order) when the Supreme Court was seized of the matter.

Background

The impugned direction was passed by the High Court in a 2004 Public Interest Litigation filed assailing the inaction of the Central Government as well as State Government in taking effective steps to clean up the area around the Union Carbide Factory wherein thousands of tons of toxic waste and chemicals is lying dumped.

On December 3, 2024, terming the non-removal of toxic waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide Factory site at Bhopal a "sorry state of affairs", the Jabalpur Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court directed authorities to immediately clean-up the site and take all remedial measures for safe disposal of the waste/material from the area. It was noted that 40 years had lapsed since the Bhopal gas tragedy but toxic waste material was still lying at the now-defunct Union Carbide Factory.

Thereafter, on January 6, the High Court ordered media to not publish any fake news or misinformation regarding the disposal of Union Carbide waste material at Pithampur facility. Assailing these two orders, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.

On February 17, the Court issued notice on the petition after hearing Senior Advocate Devdatt Kamat (for petitioner), who submitted that the High Court directed disposal of the chemical waste without issuing any advisory. Referring to State of MP's own affidavit, the senior counsel further informed that the Pithampur facility is surrounded by habitation of people, who may be exposed to side-effects of gases released while incinerating the toxic waste. The Tarapura village comprising of 105 houses is only 250 metres away from the Pithampur facility and people in the village need to be relocated, but nothing has been done, he added. It was also mentioned that the Pithampur disposal site is near a river (Gambhir River) and any contamination thereof can have catastrophic consequences for public health and the ecosystem.

Click here to read more about what the petition says.

Case Title: CHINMAY MISHRA Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., Diary No. 3661-2025