Gas effect: Now 42 colonies forced to drink toxic water

BHOPAL: The Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow, in its latest report submitted to the apex court regarding the quality of groundwater in 20 colonies near the abandoned Union Carbide plant, has confirmed excessive presence of nitrate, chloride and heavy metals.
With IITR confirming contamination in water samples collected from 20 more colonies, the number of colonies with contaminated groundwater has gone up to 42.
In 2004, the Supreme Court had directed Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) to provide tap water in 14 colonies where groundwater was detected as contaminated. In 2012, eight more colonies were acknowledged as contamination-hit by the court, thus taking the number of colonies with contaminated water to 22.
The report submitted on Thursday also pointed towards presence of alpha napthol in the samples, which the petitioner in the matter Bhopal Group for Information & Action (BGIA) is describing as vindication of its stand that toxic substance dumped in the Union Carbide plant was the source of contamination of groundwater in areas close to the plant. In the absence of remediation of the plant site, it has been spreading to new areas, said the report. With IITR confirming contamination in water samples in 20 more colonies, the number of colonies, which have contaminated groundwater, has gone up to 42 now.
“The report confirms presence of nitrate, chloride and heavy metals in the samples, but most remarkable, it has found alpha napthol in the samples, an ingredient used by Union Carbide in the production of methyl isocyanide (MIC). They also had an alpha napthol plant within the Carbide premises. This makes it amply clear that soil and ground water in areas adjacent to Carbide plant is being contaminated by spread of toxic material from inside the plant, which the company used to dump as waste”, said Rachna Dhingra, co-convener of BGIA.