Deliberating on remediation measures,the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday considered a number of clean-up options,including building a memorial and burying part of the toxic waste at the disaster site in Bhopal where the Union Carbide factory is located. Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that the GoM had covered all the subjects that were identified and would submit a report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday. The minutes are being drawn up. Tomorrow,the GoM will meet again to finalise the minutes,finalise the recommendations and conclusions. I expect to send the report to the Prime Minister tomorrow afternoon, he said. Meeting for the third consecutive day,the GoM members were given a presentation by Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh,in which he outlined the remediation options,including recharging of the groundwater and soil in and around the contaminated soil. Remediation of contaminated soil and contaminated water,and the toxic waste that is at the site,the corroded plant,the corroded steel and other material were discussed, Chidambaram told reporters. The disposal of toxic waste,which according to one of the GoM members was much more than the 350 MT assessed by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers,has been a touchy issue,given the reluctance demonstrated by other places for incineration. The Gujarat government had earlier denied permission for 350 MT of Bhopal gas plant waste,after initially giving permission. The Madhya Pradesh government had then set up additional incinerators at Pithapur near Indore to dispose of the waste but there has been opposition from NGOs and locals even on this score. One of the proposals discussed today was for burying the waste at the site where the plant itself is located, said a member of the GoM. The more critical issue,however,is what should be done about the factory itself. There were suggestions that a memorial be constructed besides another one that the factory be dismantled,melted and reused. The disposal of the waste is expected to be undertaken by the Madhya Pradesh government itself for which the Centre will provide financial and technical assistance. On Saturday,the GoM had discussed legal aspects of the Bhopal gas tragedy in which the options of a curative petition in the Supreme court against dilution of charges against Union Carbide as well as a fresh extradition request against former UCC chief Warren Anderson were taken up. Health care provisions for victims were also discussed in another session.
