The central government is considering ways to dispose of toxic waste lying at the defunct Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Sunday."We are working towards a solution to dispose the toxic wastage lying at the Union Carbide factory," Javadekar, who is the minister of forests, environment and climate change, told reporters on the sidelines of 'Cyclothon - 2015', a cycling competition being held here.
A gas leak at the pesticide plant in Bhopal on the night of 2-3 December 1984 had killed thousands of people and injured or permanently disabled many more thousands. Over five lakh people living near the defunct plant continue to suffer from various diseases. The plant has yet to be purged of toxic waste.The minister said there was a plan to incinerate the toxic waste at Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district which could not be implemented because of risks of air pollution flagged by various NGOs.