German dissent stalls toxic waste plan

The Union Government's attempt to transport around 350 tonnes of chemical waste from Bhopal to Germany for incineration has run into trouble because of protests in Germany.

Updated on: Jul 12, 2012, 01:57:12 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

The Union government's attempt to transport around 350 tonnes of chemical waste from Bhopal to Germany for incineration has run into trouble because of protests in Germany.

Initially, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GIZ) had proposed to burn the toxic waste from Bhopal in northern German city of Hamburg. But, the protests have forced the GIZ to look for alternate sites.

"We have 10 to 12 incineration plants to burn the toxic waste," GIZ India Director Hans-H. Dube told HT over telephone from Germany, admitting that they had initially proposed Hamburg for incineration. "The other site will be finalized after inviting bids".

The Union Cabinet in first week of July had sanctioned Rs 25 crore for air-lifting 350 tonnes of waste at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, where thousands of people had died after a gas leakage in 1984.

The decision came after the government's bid to incinerate the toxic waste at different places within India such as Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and in Gujarat failed because of local protests. Finally, the Madhya Pradesh government approached GIZ, who agreed to dispose the as per United Nation rules and the proposal was mooted before the Union Cabinet.

The decision has, however, received stiff resistance from German Non-Government Organisations such as Greenpeace and a German nature conservancy group, BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland), who want the waste to be disposed in India itself.

"It must be disposed of locally," Claudia Baitinger, a hazardous waste expert at BUND, was quoted by Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster. Greenpeace had opposed transporting toxic waste halfway around the world and said India should develop technology to dispose toxic waste. Several local green groups have also written to the German government protesting the decision.

Terming the protests as a non-issue, Dube said three million tonnes of toxic waste are imported for incineration in Germany every year and 350 tonnes of Bhopal waste was not even chemically hazardous. "After 27 years, nothing hazardous of the Bhopal tragedy is left in the waste," he said.

The protests and increasing pressure appears to be having its impact with the Germany government yet to give its consent for transfer. A senior environment ministry official confirmed that an approval from the German authorities to transfer Bhopal waste has not been received even though GIZ had assured in May 2012 that it will come in four to five days. The Cabinet, however, approved the transfer on the ground that GIZ was a government agency.

That is not end of the problem. As per German laws, the toxic waste cannot be transferred until the German district administration agrees. After Hamburg's reluctance getting approval from any other local administration would not be easy.

The environment ministry, on its part, is willing to change the Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules,2009, which prohibits import or export of toxic waste. "We are willing for one time exception provided German authorities approve the transfer," a ministry official said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.