A German development aid organisation said on Thursday it was in talks with the Indian government to dispose of 350 tonnes of toxic waste from the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.

“We are in discussions with the Indian government,” a spokesman for the government-run Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) said, adding that Indian officials had approached Germany with the request.

No contract had been concluded yet, he said.

Details of the possible deal were unclear, but the GIZ would likely transport the toxic waste to Germany for treatment.

The representatives of five organisations of Bhopal gas survivors have urged the Group of Ministers on Bhopal to take a long term view while dealing with the issue of hazardous waste and toxic contamination. The GOM will meet on May 21 to discuss issue of disposal of 350MT of toxic waste of Union Carbide as directed by the Supreme Court. The SC has listed the matter for May 28 as it is awaiting decision of GOM on disposal of this waste.

The representatives of five Bhopal gas survivor organisations on Sunday urged the Group of Ministers on Bhopal to take a long term view in dealing with the issue of hazardous waste and toxic contamination linked with the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.

The demand raised by the Bhopal gas survivors acquires significance as the GoM will be meeting on Monday to discuss the issue of disposal of 350MT of toxic waste as directed by the Supreme Court. The Apex Court has listed the matter on May 28 and will be awaiting the decision of GoM on solution for disposal of 350 MT of Union Carbide waste.

Concerned about the serious threat posed by huge toxic material left in Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant after the 1984 gas tragedy, the Supreme Court on Thursday summoned top officials of the Union and MP government to suggest measures for its early disposal.

A bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhyaya sought the presence of Union environment and chemical secretaries and Madhya Pradesh’s secretary for “Bhopal gas tragedy rehabilitation department” on Friday to give “assistance” to the court as how 350 tones of toxic waste deposited in Carbide plant should be disposed off as early as possible.

More than two years ago his gesture of holding a piece of waste lying on the defunct Union Carbide plant — and declaring “I am still alive. I am not coughing” — had angered activists because the then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh seemed to accuse them of milking the tragedy. No longer holding that portfolio, Ramesh has now become a posterboy for the cause of victims with him writing to the GoM on Bhopal and successor Jayanthi Natarajan, suggesting that the waste could be incinerated in Germany and not Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh.

The Bhopal activist who was “snooped on” by Dow talks first-hand. This spying and snooping has a long history. When a big corporate like Dow Chemicals resorts to snooping on private citizens, in this case on those agitating for compensation following one of the worst tragedies of our times, it only acts as a reconfirmation that they are guilty. This latest expose from Wikileaks only corroborates what we already knew.

After the Supreme Court’s nod to the authorities on April 4 to go ahead with a test incineration of the toxic waste of Bhopal’s abandoned Union Carbide factory at Pithampur near Indore, there is new twist to the toxic waste disposal issue as Union minister for rural development, drinking water and sanitation Jairam Ramesh has written a fresh letter to home minister and chairman, group of ministers on Bhopal, Mr P. Chidamabaram asking that the proposal by GIZ, a German government agency, for incinerating the toxic waste at Hamburg in Germany should be considered.

Bhopal: The Centre had barred the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) from publishing the Bhopal gas tragedy-related research work for nine years, information under the RTI Act has revealed. It was not immediately clear why the ban was imposed. Some Union petroleum and chemicals ministry documents, including minutes of a committee of secretaries meeting, obtained under the Act brought the ban to light.

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Central Pollution Control Board to file a comprehensive affidavit on the “character and content” of reported contamination of ground water in Bhopal's Arifnagar area due to the 1985 Union Carbide gas tragedy.

A Bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J. Chelameshwar also asked the Board's counsel Vijay Panjwani to recommend measures to overcome the contamination and action to be taken in this regard.

The Environment Ministry has got an approval from the Supreme Court to direct the Madhya Pradesh government to allow a test incineration of the toxic waste of Union Carbide factory that led to the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984. The Supreme Court last week upheld the decision of a high-level meeting of the Environment Ministry to direct the MP Pollution Control Board (MPPCB), and the Central Pollution Control Board to carry out incineration of 10 of the 350 metric tonnes of toxic waste lying at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) site since 1984.