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.