German firm is scared to clean toxic waste from Bhopal

, Sep 18: There seems to be no end to the plight of citizens of Bhopal. Their dream of living and breathing in pollution free environment is not going to materialise soon. A German firm which was supposed to clean 350 tonnes of toxic waste lying abandoned at the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal has pulled out of the project. The firm has cited that toxic waste at the plant is "too hazardous".

It was at Union Carbide Plant where the world's worst industrial disaster took place in 1984. The disaster is said to have killed around 15,000, and left behind thousands crippled for life.

The German agency had earlier proposed to airlift the waste to Germany and incinerate, say sources. Sources add that the agency, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has sent a letter terminating the offer to Union minister P Chidambaram on September 17. Chidambaram heads the Group of Ministers looking into all matters related to the 1984 gas leak disaster in Bhopal.

India was supposed to pay the German government firm GIZ $ 4.5 million for the job.

Sources reveal that the information leak in the German media earlier this month has created a hostile environment in Germany, and so the waste can no longer be taken to Germany from India.

It is said that the German public and environmental activists are opposed to taking hazardous waste from India to Germany. They have strongly protested against the permission granted by Germany to airlift the waste.

OneIndia News