Five non-government organisations working among the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster on Thursday stated that high levels of Dioxins and Furans were released from the Ramky waste incinerator at Pithampur near Indore during four trial runs between July 2010 and June 2012 and charged the Madhya Pradesh government of being silent spectator to the deliberate and repeated “poisoning of people”.
Releasing the documents obtained through the Right to Information Act, the representatives of the NGOs said that because of the high organochlorine content of the Union Carbide waste, they were likely to emit higher volumes of Dioxins and Furans on incineration. This has been corroborated through documents obtained. They pointed out the authenticated documents show that the levels of Dioxins and Furans in Pithampur were 68 to 267 times higher than the permissible limit. According to the World Health Organisation, even minute quantities of Dioxins cause cancer, disrupt hormones, damage the reproductive system and weaken people’s immunity. They emphasised while there was no incinerator in India that could handle the Union Carbide waste, the Ramky incinerator was the worst choice.
They pointed out that the incinerator at the Ramky waste treatment facility is not equipped to measure or prevent escape of Dioxins and Furans and the MP Pollution Control Board had directed its closure in August 2012. But, the Central Pollution Control Board overrode the order and another trial run was carried out in January 2013.