Stating that a showcause notice has been sent to a private firm owning a waste disposal facility in Taloja Navi Mumbai for agreeing to accept hazardous waste from Dow Chemicals,Bhopal,without first seeking the permission of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board,Minister of State for Environment Sanjay Deotale said on Monday that the state government would not permit disposal of any waste from outside the state in dumping grounds or incinerator facilities within the state. Action is being taken and the government remains committed not to permit waste from outside to be disposed here, Deotale said,in response to a calling attention motion regarding a January 2012 incident wherein 346 tonnes of hazardous waste from Dow Chemicals Bhopal gas disaster site were proposed to be disposed in a facility in Taloja owned by Mumbai Waste Management Ltd. In December 2011,the Jabalpur High Court had sought a report on how much noxious fumes could rise from the Union Carbide site and the Central Pollution Control Board had then approached the Taloja facility. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board wrote to the Centre early this year,stating that they were stakeholders who had not been approached or their permission sought. The MPCB said the Taloja facility is permitted to take waste form nearby areas only and that disposing this waste in a facility with densely populated localities nearby would be dangerous. The MPCB has in an affidavit to the Jabalpur High Court said it will not permit the disposal of this waste in Taloja. Also,at a meeting of state government officials with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on February 22,it was decided that the waste would be taken to the Pitampur waste disposal facility in Madhya Pradesh.
