Supreme Court Refuses To Halt Disposal Of Chemical Waste From Bhopal Gas Tragedy At Pithampur

The Supreme Court today (February 27) refused to interfere with the direction of the MP High Court which ordered the disposal of chemical waste from Bhopal Gas Tragedy site at Pithampur. The Court granted liberty to the parties to raise their grievances before the High Court. 

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

Notably, after the issuance of notice by the Apex Court on February 17, the MP High Court on February 18 ordered a trial run of 10 metric tonnes from February 27 onwards. 

Sr Advocate Devdatt Kamat informed the bench that the High Court had constituted a Task Force committee consisting of 15 technical members looking into the entire issue of waste disposal. 

He added that in 2013 and 2015 subsequent to the Supreme Court orders, two trial runs were conducted which were successful. He also submitted that when disposal measures were taken, a claim was made that 11 representatives from the public agreed to the measures, "Now those 8 out of 11 come before this Court and say we never gave this consent! This is very serious"

He added that the test reports placed on record seem to be of another private plant and not of the Union Carbide India Limited(UCIL). 

Another Counsel appearing for an organisation working for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims highlighted that the plant in question does not take into account the toxic gases which are not required to be monitored under the rules. He added that the organisation has a better alternative measure which it proposes to the bench. 

"We are not saying that it should not be done, mylords there are better ways of doing it" He emphasised. 

Another intervention was filed by one of the 11 representatives. Their Counsel stated that no such affidavit on the issue of consent was filed on his behalf. The Counsel further informed the bench that local bodies in the region were never consulted and were not even represented in the High Court. 

The Court noted that the Task Force Committee constituted by the High Court consisted of high-level technical expert bodies like the NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) and NGRI and CPCB. 

Considering the relevant expertise of the bodies and the fact that the High Court is adequately dealing with the matter, the Bench refused to interfere in the present case. The parties were at liberty to file their interventions before the High Court. The relevant portions of the order states: 

"The NEERI is the most recognised and reputed organisation in the Country dealing with environmental aspects. Whenever the Court finds difficulty in assessing the question with regards to environmental damages, it is always the NEERI taken on board. 

The Minutes of the Committee reveal that the experts have taken a decision for the transportation and disposal of toxic waste - views of directors of NEERI, NGRI and the Chairman of CPCB have been recorded. 

It has been submitted that some of the recommendations of the Committee have not been complied with by the State of Madhya Pradesh ...High Court took a serious view of the lethargic manner in which the state was dealing with the disposal of waste.

The High Court is monitoring the matter, in that view, we do not find any reason to interfere in the said impugned order. In so far as the grievance raised by Mr Kamat is concerned, the petitioners can very well intervene before the High Court and raise the grievances which could be considered by the High Court." 

The Court also granted liberty to place the recommendations for alternative disposal solutions by the intervening organisation before the High Court and the State of Madya Pradesh 

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.

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