Madhya Pradesh High Court: In a writ petition pertaining to the disposal of hazardous waste from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) site, a Division bench of Suresh Kumar Kait, CJ., and Vivek Jain, J., directed the respondents to proceed cautiously with three-phase trial runs to ensure public safety and compliance with environmental protocols.
In the instant matter, a status report was furnished by the State Government concerning the disposal of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) waste. The report highlighted a meeting conducted by the Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh, on 11-01-2025, directing officials to educate the public on previous trial runs conducted in 2013 & 2015 and make their findings accessible to the public in simple language through local administration.
To enhance transparency, an action plan for six weeks was formulated by the Department of Bhopal Gas Relief Tragedy and Rehabilitation, involving experts from environmental, medical, and academic fields to provide scientific information on waste disposal.
The respondents contended that the government has undertaken steps to ensure that the public is informed about the past trial runs and their outcomes. Due to the efforts of state functionaries, the hazardous waste was unloaded from trucks without public unrest or resistance. It was stated that 11 public representatives requested a controlled trial run before disposing of the entire waste. The State proposed a three-phase trial run, each disposing of 10 metric tons of waste, with gaps for testing and assessing environmental impact. The estimated timeline for each trial run was set at approximately 3-4 days.
The Court directed —
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To Conduct the first trial run of 10 metric tons on 27-02-2025 while following all necessary protocols.
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If no adverse effects are observed, the second trial run will proceed on 04-03-2025.
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To schedule the third trial run for 10-03-2025.
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Based on the results of these trial runs, further waste disposal will continue following due tests and compliance with guidelines.
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To submit a status report of the trial runs.
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To schedule the next hearing for 27-03-2025.
[Alok Pratap Singh v. Union of India, WP No. 2802 of 2004, Decided on 18-02-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Shri Naman Nagrath, Senior Advocate with Shri K.N. Fakhruddin, Counsel for the petitioners.
Shri Pushpendra Yadav – Senior Advocate with Shri Sandeep Kumar Shukla, Counsel for the respondent No.1/Union of India.
Shri Prashant Singh – Advocate General with Shri H.S. Ruprah, Additional Advocate General and Dr. S.S. Chouhan, Government Advocate, Counsel for the respondents/State.
Shri Ravindra Shrivastava, Shri Siddharth Luthra and Shri Kishore Shrivastava – Senior Advocates with Ms. Shiraz Patodia, Ms. Divya Shrama, Ms. Juhi Chawla, Shri Kunal Thakre, Shri Y.M. Tiwari and Shri Ayush Agrawal, Counsel for the respondent No.4.
Shri Vikram Johri, Counsel for the respondent- M.P. Pollution Board.
Shri Rajeev Mishra, Counsel for the respondent No.6.
Shri Abhinav Dhandodkar, Counsel for the petitioner in Writ Petition No.41965/2024.
Shri Rajeev Mishra, Shri S.K. Verma and Ms. Shakshi Pawar, Counsel for the respondent No. 7.
Shri N. D. Jayprakash appears in person for Intervenor/Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti.
Ms. Rachna Dhingra – petitioner appears in person.
Shri Avi Singh, Senior Advocate with Shri Shreyas Dharmadhikari and Shri Kirti Raj, Counsel for the BGIA.
Shri Sunil Kumar Jain – Senior Advocate with Shri Rishi Paliwal, Counsel for the intervenor.
Shri Hitendra Tripathi and Shri Pratyush Mishra, Counsel for the intervenor.
Shri Rahul Diwaker, Counsel for the intervener.
Shri Manish Gupta, Counsel for the intervener.
