by Rohit Ghosh, Indo-Asian News Service

Bhopal-- Should the toxic wastes at the Union Carbide factory here be disposed of? Will it not destroy evidence in the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster?

Should it be packed off to other parts of Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat, risking endangering the environment there too?

These are the questions raised by activists and survivors of the tragedy as the Madhya Pradesh government proceeds with plans to dispose of all toxic wastes lying in the abandoned Union Carbide plant by March 31, 2006, in three phases.

Around 8,000 tonnes of highly toxic chemicals are still lying unattended in the now shut plant from where lethal methyl-isocyante gas leaked out on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, killing some 1,700 people instantly. During the past 21 years the death toll has touched some 30,000.

The first phase of repackaging has been completed - but not without running into a controversy.

Last month, over 250 tonnes of the toxic waste was packed in bags and dumped in storerooms in the premises of the factory. It was done by Ramki Chemicals Ltd, a Hyderabad-based company which specialises in handling toxic chemicals.

"In the process, the dust of benzene hexachloride escaped into the atmosphere and around 20,000 people living within a 500 feet radius of the Union Carbide factory suffered for the second time in their life," alleged Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information and Action, an NGO.

"Several people suffered the same symptoms they had suffered on the night of December 1984," she said, adding that many had to be admitted to hospitals for breathlessness, dizziness and vomiting.

Noorjahan, 35, who lives close to the Carbide plant, said: "I started feeling breathlessness and had to be admitted to hospital."

Many people went to the factory and told officials of Ramki Ltd that the work should be conducted safely and the lives of people living close to the factory should not be put at risk.

Minister of Rehabilitation for Gas Victims Uma Shankar Gupta, however, denied that the waste packaging was creating a problem for people.

The repackaged wastes are to be buried in secured landfill near Pithampura in Indore district.

But, according to Abdul Jabbar, who has been working for two decades to secure justice to the gas victims, the state government should not go beyond repackaging.

"The government should repackage the chemical wastes so that it does not seep into and pollute groundwater," Jabbar told IANS.

"But if the chemical wastes are removed from the premises and dumped somewhere else, vital evidence of environmental damage caused by the chemicals would be destroyed and the case against Dow Chemical (the present owner of Union Carbide) would be weakened," said Jabbar.

He said the chemicals could also damage the environment elsewhere just as they were still harming the environment here.

Jabbar said the plaint seeking compensation for environmental damage against Dow Chemicals pending in an appellate court in the US was in final stages. If the toxic waste was removed at this stage, vital evidence could be lost forever.

"We will plead in the court that the chemical wastes should be disposed of by the Union Carbide and Dow Chemical as they are accountable for it and they have the expertise to handle chemicals."

Dhingra agreed: "Why should taxpayers money be used to remove the wastes? It's the responsibility of Dow Chemical. And it should not be dumped anywhere in India."

During the second phase, soil sampling and analysis of the Union Carbide premises to quantify the level of contamination in the soil and demarcation of the area is to be carried out. This phase will begin Sep 30, 2005, and will stretch up to March 31, 2006.

The third phase, which will run parallel to the second, would involve dismantling, decommissioning of the Union Carbide machinery, including disposal of toxic wastes found in the process of dismantling/decommissioning.

As many as 576,000 people are still suffering from the ill affects of the gas.