"It is a matter of deep anguish for me personally, and it has taken so long, and the verdict clearly is very unsatisfactory from every point of view. It has caused understandable furore, particularly among people affected by the tragedy and civil society groups," Ramesh told reporters here.
He said his ministry was concerned with implementing the Environment Protection Act, 1986, brought in by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the wake of the 1984 tragedy that killed thousands of people. "What I can assure people is we will be strict without fear and favour in implementing the act so that future Bhopals don't occur," Ramesh said.
Speaking about measures to deal with the ongoing consequences of the Bhopal disaster, he said: "We have about 325 tonne of toxic waste still at the site waiting to be incinerated and disposed off. About 45 tonne have been done (away with) so far." Ramesh said his ministry had started decontamination studies both on structure as well as at the site. Three institutions - the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, and the National Environment Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur - are doing the studies, expected to be completed by June, he said. Real the full report here.
Source: Hindustan Times, New Delhi
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