Bhopal, Jan 2 : Toxic waste lying at Bhopal's Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) premises for the last 40 years was finally shifted on Wednesday to Pathampur dumping site in Dhar district, around 30 km, from Indore.

The convoy of 12 container trucks carrying around 337 metric tonnes of chemical waste moved from Bhopal to Pithampur amid tight security arrangements by the administration and police, late on Wednesday.

A green corridor was set up to cover around 250 km between the UCIL and Pithampur.

Highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, killing at least 5,479 people and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues. It is considered to be among the worst industrial disasters in the world.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had on December 3 set a four-week deadline to shift the toxic waste, observing that even 40 years after the gas tragedy, the authorities were in a "state of inertia", and warned the government of contempt proceedings if its directive was not followed.

More than one hundred people in 30-minute shifts have packed the waste since Sunday. They underwent health check-ups and were given rest every 30 minutes.

All 12 specialised containers that carried toxic waste have been designed according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards. Each container is leak-proof, fire-resistant, and equipped with GPS tracking for real-time monitoring.

"Pithampur's plant is specifically designed for the safe incineration of waste generated by industrial units across the state. In 2015, a trial run for disposing of 10 metric tonnes of waste of UCIL as conducted under CPCB supervision, adhering to all prescribed safety parameters," Director of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Swatantra Kumar Singh said.

He stated that the state-of-the-art treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF) at Pithampur has been safely incinerating waste from various organisations since 2006, similar to the storage and operational processes at UCIL.

Singh highlighted that after the 2015 trial run of UCIL waste disposal, emission levels were found to comply with the prescribed national standards. He said the finding also revealed that over the past 10 years in the Pithampur circle village, the cultivation area for soybean and wheat crops has increased.

"The results indicated that no harmful elements were detected in the air or water following the disposal process. The remaining residues from incineration were securely disposed of using a double composite liner system to ensure environmental safety," he added.

/IANS