Central Pollution Control Board accused of failure to keep the June 4 deadline

Environmentalists have accused the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of failure to keep the June 4 deadline for filing a report on groundwater contamination caused by Dow Chemical Company’s Union Carbide Corporation plant in Bhopal, despite its assurances and the need for compliance with the Supreme Court Orders dated March 28 and April 19, 2012.(In one of the world’s industrial catastrophes, thousands of people died and were injured following the leak of toxic methyl isocyanate at the UCIL pesticide plant on the night of December 2-3, 1984.)

In the wake of the leakage of toxic gases from a pesticide plant in Srikakulam district which forced people in 18 surrounding villages to flee their homes, government agencies may have been exposed

There is stiff resistance to the latest US federal court order that neither Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) nor its former chairman Warren Anderson were liable for any pollution-linked claims by the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster and the non-government organisations working here for the cause of the gas victims are determined to go in appeal against this order.

Reacting to the US district Court Judge John F. Keenan’s dismissal of the case on June 26, Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that is the fourth instance of dismissal.

Union home minister P. Chidambaram said on Tuesday that the toxic waste lying at the abandoned Union Carbide pesticide plant in the state capital has not been disposed of till now since three state governments refused to allow the disposal of hundreds of tonnes of hazardous waste in their territory.

Mr Chidambaram was addressing a press conference in the state capital after visiting the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) set up for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster along with Union ministers — Salman Khurshid and V. Narayanasamy. Outside BMHRC, the home minister was shown black flags by some Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parsihad activists.

Environment Protection Department (EPD) Punjab issued notices to 110 polluter industrial units on Friday.

At least 40 villagers undergo treatment.

Pesticides manufacturer, Excel Crop Care, on Wednesday said that following the Supreme Court order to allow export of unused stock of endosulfan, the company would be able to ship 1,188 kilo litres