Bhopal/Pithampur, Jan 3 (IANS) Two men attempted suicide during a protest against the transportation of hazardous waste from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal to Pithampur in Dhar district on Friday.
However, some reports said that one person poured petrol over his body and set himself ablaze. Police and other protesters swung into action to douse the fire, during which, another person, who tried to save him also received burns.
Police took both the injured persons to Dhar district hospital for treatment.
According to the information, one of them has been admitted to the ICU ward. Following that incident, police lathi-charged on protesters and chased them away.
However, the protest is being organised at several locations surrounding the Pithampur dumping site. The protesters demanded that the containers carrying the toxic waste be sent back to Bhopal.
Dilip Singh Raghuvanshi, a social worker, said: “We have only one request from the state government that the containers of the toxic waste should be sent back from Pithampur. My strike would continue till the 12 containers of waste brought from Bhopal were sent back from here.”
The state government said the Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) at Pithampur is the only suitable site for the disposal of chemical waste in the state. However, the protest that had begun a couple of days back, intensified and more and more people joined the protest on Friday.
Locals also called for a ‘Bandh’ (shutdown) to mark their protest, closing their shops in solidarity. A local shopkeeper explained, “The reason for shutting the shop is that the 40-year-old toxic waste from Bhopal has been brought here in Pithampur for its disposal. We will not let the waste be incinerated here. We are with the people of Pithampur.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav accused the Congress of misleading people for political gain.
“Those who are politicising the issue for vote bank, they should know that when the Bhopal gas tragedy happened in 1984, they were in power,” Mohan Yadav said.
Notably, as many as 12 container trucks carrying 377 metric tonnes of hazardous chemical waste from Bhopal reached Pithampur early on January 2 and remained parked at the premises of Ramki factory located in Ashapura area in Pithampur of Dhar district.
–IANS
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