Activists say toxic waste is still present at Carbide factory site, 32 years after Bhopal gas leak.
Bailable warrants have been issued against a former administration official and a police officer who were accused of helping Union Carbide Corporation chairman Warren Anderson escape from India after the 1984 gas tragedy. Then district Collector Moti Singh and retired Superintendent of Police Swaraj Puri had failed to appear in the court despite summons on January 13.
Anderson, a US citizen, had never appeared before the Bhopal court for trial in the case related to world's worst industrial disaster, and was declared an absconder. He died in the United States in 2013.
The two officers, now retired, had been accused of harbouring an offender and had several other charges against them. The case was filed after the activists sought action against the two former officers for allegedly helping Anderson escape from the country.
In December 1984, toxic gas had leaked from the now-defunct pesticide factory of Union Carbide, killing nearly 4,000 people and maiming lakhs.
Activists say toxic waste is still present at the Carbide factory site, 32 years after the incident. The Union Carbide, they claim, dumped 11 lakh tonnes of toxic waste on the premises during its 14 years of operations. The waste, they say, is now seeping into the groundwater and poisoning it. In 2015, the Centre had said a plan is being chalked out for the safe disposal of the waste.
"All precautionary measures will be taken into account to dispose of the toxic waste. All steps will be taken to resolve this problem," then environment minister Prakash Javadekar had said.